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IV. H. PRESCOTT

History of the

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EVER Y MAN, 1 will go with thee.

and he thy guide ,

In thy most need to go hy thy side

WILLIAM HICKLING PRESCOTT

Born at Salem, Mass., in 1796, and
educated at Harvard. Died in 1859.

WILLIAM H. PRESCOTT

History of the
Conquest of Peru

INTRODUCTION BY

THOMAS SECCOMBE

DENT : LONDON

EVERYMAN’S LIBRARY

DUTTON: NEW YORK

Aldine Press • Letchworth • Herts

J. M. DENT & SONS LTD
Aldine House • Bedford Street • London
First included in Everyman s Library 1908
Last reprinted 1968

This book is sold subject to the con¬
dition that it may not be issued on
loan or otherwise except in its original
soft cover.

SBN : 460 01301 7

INTRODUCTION

W. H. Prescott belonged to a race of which it is, perhaps,
no exaggeration to say in the twentieth century that there is a
probability of its becoming, in course of time, as completely extinct
as that of the Aztecs or the Incas. I refer, of course, to the great
race of stylist historians. Like Roscoe and Thierry, or like his
greater contemporary Macaulay, Prescott set himself to emulate
Thucydides. It was his ambition, too, to compete with the latest
novel, to be seen in ladies’ boudoirs, to sell by thousands, and to
be given away year after year as a Christmas present. External
circumstances, strong will, powerful memory, and the gift of mental
organisation and method may be said to have predestined him to
historical greatness. He was not impatient, but was quite content
by slow degrees to acquire the panoply of miscellaneous learning,
fixed opinions, and settled “historical principles’’ — such as
Robertson and Hallam had possessed — which the potent Quarter¬
lies of his day demanded of all who ventured into the highly
ornate field of historical composition. The historical aspirant
under that dispensation had to undergo a long period of probation
and invocation of the Muse. After a devout submission to this
ordeal, and then only, could he receive the sanction of the recognised
arbiters of critical taste and literary opinion to make his bow as a
qualified and certificated historian; and by an historian, until eighty
or ninety years ago, was meant the narrator in picturesque prose of
the pomp and circumstance of past events. His prose had, in
addition, to be animated by that oTrovhaioT-qs or high and excellent
seriousness which Arnold declared to be the hall-mark of a classic,
and it had to be rendered poignant and human by the moral and
elevating treatment of that biographical element which pre¬
dominated necessarily in the old-fashioned conception of history as
(in Swift’s phrase) “the essence of innumerable biographies.’’

The twentieth-century historian, it is perhaps superfluous to men¬
tion, cares for none of these things. He has other preoccupations.
He does not want to be readable. He does not want to elevate
a single character, or to drape a solitary fact. He is suspicious of
all these wonderful old contours. A very little exercise of the
Socratic method convinces him that the old explanations are not

wholly disinterested — are expressive of anything but the whole

vi Introduction

truth. History has only maintained its dignity by “ forcing n the
questions addressed to it as a conjurer forces the cards. Ask it
something a little outside the beaten track, and it remains speechless.
The new school says, therefore, that it must ask these master
polishers of historical periods to desist for a short space, while in
quest of the necessary explanations it attempts to get behind their
pillories and their pedestals. For the new school profoundly
distrusts the colour and the bias, the flush of success and the
beggary of failure which the stylist historians (so it alleges) have
far too readily permitted to obscure their perception of the deeper
tendencies and influences, — the economic or institutional meanings
of the past.

The old historian based his work on old histories, old chronicles,
party tracts and partisan memoirs. The new historian shows a
marked preference for documents which are above, or below, the
imputation of colour and bias, such as deeds, rolls, charters,
laws, writs, treaties and prices. The contrast of aim is indicated
rather than expressed by saying that the old school worshipped
at the shrine of literary description, and that the new school are
tending more and more to offer incense on the altar of scientific
explanation.

Prescott then, to return to the subject in hand, was a splendid
example of the old-fashioned school. He was not a great original
thinker or an insatiate seeker for hidden historic truths, still less
was he an indefatigable bibliographer or textual critic of the modern
pattern. On the other hand, he was far from writing with that
wrath and partiality which some have ascribed to Macaulay, and
which Byron, who so highly commended these qualities in Mitford,
would have still more warmly applauded in the case of Motley. No,
Prescott was in his way as judicial as Hallam, he was as impartial
as perhaps only a Unitarian of Boston can be (he carefully avoided
even that temptation to twist the tail of the mere Britisher which
was generally so irresistible to an American of the old school), and
as magnificently polysyllabic as Gibbon. Johnson once said of
Robertson that he would be crushed by his own weight — buried
under his own ornaments. Prescott cannot be entirely acquitted
under this indictment. There is, as most readers of to-day will admit,
a certain excess of glitter and ornament about his style. It was the
fashion of the day for men to adorn themselves with jewellery. In
a full-dress review article, such as Prescott wrote for the ‘ Old
North ’ [. American Review ] in emulation of the high Quarterly
manner, it was due to the self-respect of an intellectual man that
he should brandish the tree of universal knowledge torn up by the

Introduction

roots.1 Such a training engendered a certain hardness and formality
with the pen from which Prescott was hardly ever free. It is
characteristic of him that he could never write a short letter. It must
be said in Prescott’s favour, however, that he is far less pompous
than either Robertson or Gibbon. At its best his prose style may
perhaps be compared most nearly with that of Roscoe, Merivale or
Milman. It is never slipshod, never slovenly, never colourless, and
never dry ; and if at uninspired moments Prescott is rather hard and
mechanical, he is never obscure and never repellent ; incapable
of gush or clap-trap, he adapts his manner to his content with a
regularity which succeeds ultimately in effectually concealing its art.

His great merit, however, is in his arrangement. In his maturity
he gave his nights and days to this as in his youth he had given
days and nights to the emulation of the prose style of Addison.
He incubated his work incessantly and for enormous periods, he
pruned it severely and chastised it without pity. If he did not, as
Thackeray said of Macaulay, read a book to write a sentence, he
formed a library for each book that he wrote. Becoming conscious
by degrees that he is to write a big book on a set theme, he spares
no pains to discover by infallible means the one inevitable hiatus in
human knowledge. To this end he throws up parallels and trenches
of approach ; works round and round his quarry with anxious
circumspection ; he draws up synopses and lines of circumvallation ;
he disciplines himself in descriptions, characters and critiques ;
hesitates often; enters “subjects for composition” formally in a
note-book. Six years elapse between the first “ call of Spain” and
his final response to it, and then it takes ten years more steady
work before he is ready to go to press. The “quest of a theme”
is a chapter in his life almost as serious as in that of a Milton or a
Gibbon. In self-preparation so elaborate, unsparing, and self-
conscious, the History of the old school seems to reach its acme of
dignity : the words of the immeasurable Gibbon insensibly recur
to the mind — “Few works of merit and importance have been
executed either in a garret or a palace. A gentleman possessed
of leisure and independence, of books and talents, may be

1 Prescott’s chief articles for the North American Review (reprinted in
the Miscellanies ) were as follows : Italian Narrative Poetry (1824), Moliere
(1828), Irving’s Granada (1829), Cervantes (1837), Lockhart’s Life of
Scott (1838), Bancroft’s United States (1841), Ticknor’s Spanish Literature
(1850). Unlike most critics, Prescott spoke in comminatory terms of his
own reviews, and referred with envious enthusiasm to De Tocqueville’s
triumphant 'Jc ti’ai jamais fait de ma vie un article de revue.” The “ Battle
of Lepanto” which appeared — a purple patch — in the second number of
the Atlantic Monthly (Dec. 1857) was afterwards incorporated in Philip II,

viii Introduction

encouraged to write by the distant prospect of honour and reward ;
but wretched is the author, and wretched will be the work, where
daily diligence is stimulated by daily hunger/’ Niebuhr was
perhaps rather unfair when he thanked God that he was not born
an Englishman, for in that case he would have become rich and
done no serious work. Abundant means afforded a foundation
essential to such work in history as that achieved by Gibbon or
Prescott. Having regard to the fact that he was rich in worldly
gear, amiable and sociable by nature, and not abnormally fond of
work, the amount of conscience that Prescott put into every
portion of his historical labour ought to be a subject for perpetual
admiration.

There is in Lancashire a place called Prescot, now almost a
suburb of Liverpool. The American genealogists have decided
that this must be the original home of the Prescotts of Massa¬
chusetts. They have even discovered coat armour for the family,
and indeed the only thing they have hitherto hesitated to produce
is proof. We are told, however, that a certain Ironside Prescott,
“ a Cromwellian soldier,” crossed the sea and settled in Lancaster,
Mass., in 1640. (Observe the date.) How he managed to do this
we are not informed. What seems fairly certain is that the
historian was rather proud of his more or less imaginary pedigree,
and still more of Thackeray’s allusion to it in “The Virginians.”
More vital to our thinking is the fact that the historian’s grand¬
father, “William Prescott the brave,” took a leading part at
Bunker Hill in June 1775. The historian’s father, a distinguished
lawyer and judge, who might, had he wished, have sat in the
Supreme Court, was characterised by two of the best qualities a man
can well have — integrity of soul, and a strong affection for the novels
of Sir Walter Scott. He married, in 1793, Catharine Hickling, a
daughter of an American consul in the Azores (from whom the
historian derived what he called his harmonious second name), and
died, a rich man, on December 8, 1844. Both parents lived to see
their son famous, and left as heritage to their children a name
both honoured and beloved.

W. H. Prescott was born at Salem on May 4, 1796, the year
of Burns’s death. More significant in the way of coincidence are
the facts that Mignet, another Peninsula historian, was born in the
same month, and that Roscoe’s Lorenzo dd Medici , one of Prescott’s
favourite models, also appeared in the same year. A good American

Introduction ix

mother once observed to her daughter, a recent Catholic convert,
who had ventured a remark not obscurely disparaging to the
Unitarian body, “My dear, many of the best families in Boston
are Unitarians ! ” The Prescotts were among this number. W. H.
Prescott, being thus in the strictest sense a member of the Brahmin
caste of New England, was carefully educated, brought up among
books, and destined for the American Bar. He was quick and
lively, but showed no special precocity ; was already given to
serious self-admonition, but was not studious above the average.

During his junior year at college [Harvard] came the accident
which moulded his life. As he was leaving the dining-hall in
which the students sat “ at commons ” a biscuit thrown by a
practical joker struck him squarely in the left eye, and stretched
him senseless upon the floor. Paralysis of the retina was the result.
He was not “ gravel blind,” but from that day forward he had the use
of one eye only, with periods of total darkness. He could seldom
read for more than two or three hours a day, and then only with
very scrupulous precautions. The career at the Bar for which he
had been designed had to be abandoned. He determined on a
literary life, and a complete subordination of his time to a system of
self-discipline. His historical work was dependent largely upon an
amanuensis and a writing-frame called a “ noctograph.” Incapable
of Thierry’s counsel, he found it impossible to dictate with satis¬
factory results. His secretary read to him for hours.1 He composed
mentally a long scroll or stretch of synopsis which he committed to
paper in a style illegible to every one but his assistant. And he
worked up his pictures from this synopsis. In all his methods he
exercised an iron self-control ; shutting himself up from all
distractions, regularising his work, and getting up very early — a
practice he hated. At the latter end of a very severe winter he
wrote to Mrs. Ticknor : “You will give me credit for some spunk
when I tell you that I have not been frightened by the cold a
single morning from a ride on horseback to Jamaica Plain and
back again before breakfast. My mark has been to see the sun
rise by Mr. Greene’s school.” He was equally laconic in con¬
trolling his diet.

Prescott seems to have owed his first impulse towards Spanish
“matters” to Ticknor’s lectures at Harvard. On December i,
1824, he began learning the language. He lacked stomach (and
eyesight) for German. French, English and Italian literature he

1 One of his secretaries and historical disciples was John Foster Kirk,
author of a History of Charles the Bold (3 vols., 1863-1 868), now best known
j to English readers through the rather severe essay of Professor Freeman.

♦ 301

■

x Introduction

knew thoroughly. False scents were not wanting. But in 1826-71
he settled down with relentless determination to the old Spanish
chronicle-historians such as Mariana, Zurita, and Palencia, and
began building up the synopsis from which he worked. For ten
years he worked regularly, composing 225 pages per annum, and
having his chapters printed as he went along. Hardly any one
knew at what he was working or aiming. A near relative was in
the habit of lecturing him upon the need of some one serious
pursuit. In October 1836 he completed the “corrections and the
arrangement” To publish or not to publish was now the question,
but this was resolved by Judge Prescott’s Johnsonian remark that
“the man who writes a book which he is afraid to publish is a
coward.” The History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella
appeared, accordingly, in December 1837 (with 1838 on the title
page), and a few months later, after refusal by Murray and also by
Longman, it was accepted by Bentley on the half-profit system.

The English critics, headed by Richard Ford, author of the
Handbook of Spain , were astonished at such erudite and accom¬
plished work coming across the Atlantic.2 Ford wrote a highly
eulogistic article in the Quarterly. Hallam, Milman, Elphinstone,
Sismondi, De Tocqueville, Southey (himself a Spanish historian,
as was Lockhart) and the united wisdom of Holland House gave
their gracious imprimatur to the work. Brahmin saluted Brahmin
across the water. Learned societies rained memberships upon
the fortunate historian. Sydney Smith promised him a Caspian
sea of soup if only he would come over. The prognostic was
correct. If Prescott was not absolutely drowned in claret, as the
Archdeacon threatened, when he arrived in London in 1850, he
was feted, made much of and dined by great ladies, bishops,
wits and Whig earls to his heart’s content. A writer in Fraser's
Magazine , after his death, declared that his social charm, “ inde¬
scribable in words but certain in its effect, was a subject for
general remark in all circles, among bishops sipping their tea at
the Athenaeum, and among young beauties rejoicing in their first
Queen’s ball.” A more significant monument of his historical
prestige is the fact that Washington Irving, by an act of what must
have been very bitter abnegation, abandoned to Prescott the tit-bit
of Spanish- American history which he had long contemplated

1 Four years before this he had married Susan Amory, of Boston, whose
maternal grandfather had commanded a British sloop on the Loyal side at
Bunker Hill.

2 As to the enthusiasm of the reception accorded to Prescott’s works by
the Spanish -speaking world, see Diccionario Hisyano- Americano, Barcelona,

1895, xvb 2 68.

Introduction xi

making a small fortune out of (and a good royalty meant far more
to Irving than it ever could have meant to Prescott), namely, The
Conquest of Mexico. Having accepted the sacrifice, Prescott used
the monopoly well, and, later on, it should be said in justice that
he was equally generous when the time came to throw his Spanish
preserves open to Motley. Maria Edgeworth called The Conquest
of Mexico, when it appeared in 1842, the book of the century. It
won a much wider audience even than Ferdinand and Isabella.
Thomas Grenville, the donor of the superb Grenville Library in
the British Museum, was discovered one day by the American
ambassador reading Xenophon’s Anabasis in the original. The
ambassador remarked on the charm of that book. “ Here,” said
Grenville, holding up a volume of Prescott, “is one far superior.”
The Conquest of Peru , a natural sequel to The Conquest of Mexico ,
was published in March 1847. It is generally considered the
correct thing to say that Prescott’s research in Mexico and Peru
has been wholly superseded.1 This is much more true of his work
on Spanish history proper. The deviation from the needle of
modern research is far less than was once supposed as regards
Mexico , and still less in the case of its successor.

Prescott’s subsequent unfinished work on Philip //., though
inferior in popularity to the favourite Peru , is by many considered
the best written of all his works. His prose, though still em¬
broidered, increased in flexibility as he grew older. Later works by
Motley, Mignet, Stirling- Maxwell, Forneron, Lea, Hume and others
have detracted somewhat from its completeness, just as Prescott
himself had in turn killed Watson2 and seriously damaged Robert¬
son. Though he earned the distinction of the appellation “ bigot ”
from the Catholic press, Prescott’s moderation served him well ;

1 “At first there was a decided lurch adverse to Prescott. Wilson and
his school resolved ‘the golden cupolas of Mexico,’ as Disraeli called them
with characteristic grandiloquence, into Indian mud huts, and made of the
Spanish chroniclers a set of impudent liars. But the due reaction came.
Archaeology has, of course, uncovered many things never guessed in
Prescott’s day in regard to ‘ the moonshine period ’ of the Aztecs. Later
scholars have sifted and checked Bernal Diaz — ‘that jewel of a
chronicler ’ — and the other .Spanish writers in a way not possible in
Prescott’s day. New material has come to light. Yet when every
allowance of this sort has been made, the fact remains that The Conquest
of Mexico holds its own wonderfully well. Supercilious young novelists
may sneer at it as ‘ Prescott’s romance that he passed off for history,’ but
the competent know better.” — American Men of Letters: “ Prescott,” by
Rollo Ogden.

2 Robert Watson’s History of Philip II., which first appeared in two
quarto volumes, London, 1777, and was greatly bepraised and translated,
is now almost entirely forgotten.

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xiv Introduction

he had none of the Protestant frenzy which is apt to disfigure the
pages of Motley or Charles Kingsley. He stuck bravely to his task
at Nahant, at Pepperell, at Lynn, and in Boston, amid successive
strokes of ill-luck and ill-health. The end came quite suddenly
on January 28, 1859. “The night of time,” wrote Motley, “had
suddenly descended upon the unfinished peristyle of a stately and
beautiful temple.”

After the historian’s death Mrs. Prescott wrote to George
Ticknor urging him to undertake the memoir. In April 1859
Ticknor, after consultation with Lady Lyell, bent himself to the
task. The war interrupted its appearance, and it was not printed
until 1864. It has been judged to be a masterpiece of proportion
in judicial, if rather formal and didactic, biography. The lesson
taught by that life of voluntary labour and stem self-control
engrafted upon a nature naturally gay, facile and ease-loving, and
of heroic combat with an ever-present infirmity, is brought home to
every reader. Prescott’s English friends, such as Lady Lyell and
Lord Carlisle, were delighted with the work. Carlisle wrote en¬
thusiastically of the vivid reminder it afforded him of Prescott’s
sunny personality : “ I can assure you I consider you have put
no mean feather in my cap by exhibiting me to the world as
one who had won the regard of Prescott.” Bancroft wrote an
admirable letter, in these terms : “ You have given Prescott as
he was, leaving no part of his character unportrayed. He was
in life and in himself greater than his books, and you have
shown him so. I find nothing omitted, nothing remissly done,
and nothing overdone. I had feared that the uniformity of his
life would cut off from your narrative the resources of novelty
and variety and stirring interest ; and here in the inward struggles
of his mind, and his struggles with outward trials, you have brought
out a more beautiful and attractive picture than if you had to
describe the escapes of a hero or the perils of an adventurer.
Well as I knew Prescott, you have raised my conception of his
fortitude and self-control and consciously noble ambition.”
Prescott’s fellowship in the partial deprivation of sight with such
historians as Thierry and Parkman forms a remarkable episode in
the literary history of the last century.

Prescott lived in the midst of the New England or imitative
period of American literature. Its prose models were rooted in
the old-fashioned world of Gibbon and Goldsmith. From the
eighteenth century too he inherits that absorption in the cares of
the showman and the moralist, which is rarely absent from his
writing. It may be that he does not ruffle the surface quite deeply
enough, but his art in decorating a blank panel in the vast and

Introduction

void of the past is nothing less than superb. His works are an
indispensable propaedeutic to the study of Spanish-American
history. Among the historians of Outre-Mer, with the possible
exception of the veteran Dr. H. C. Lea, he comes second only to
Parkman. Nor are his books in the least likely to be displaced.
He who having read Prescott was content to read no farther
would be a student lacking somewhat in the highest kind of
curiosity ; but more commendable by far for good sense than
one who laboured under the impression that Prescott was an
historian whom he could afford to ignore. And of all his histories
the most popular, decidedly, and the least liable to be superseded,
if not intrinsically the most meritorious or original, is The Conquest
of Peru.

Ill

The Conquest of Peru was written in maturity, when Prescott
was fifty ; it was his most expeditious work, and it certainly
evidences the complete mastery of his characteristic method. The
Muse of History was propitious from the outset, and the verdict of
popular approval was spoken with no uncertain voice. Bentley
assented to give eight hundred pounds for the English rights without
demur. The book is still the most widely popular of all Prescott’s
works on both sides of the Atlantic, and it is read to this day, by
young and old alike, among all who have the least tincture of
education, all over the Peruvian slope. As a pageant of narrative
description it can have very few equals. The tragedies of the
three Pizarros — of Blasco Nunez, Almagro and Carbajal ; the march
of Almagro to Chili ; Gonzalo’s expedition from Quito to discover
the fabled gold of the East ; Orellana’s amazing voyage down the
Amazon ; the extraordinary story, above all, more incredible than
a medieval legend, of Francis Pizarro’s march of 1532 from
Tumbez to Caxamarca ; the deputation to Atahuallpa ; the marble
apathy of the Indian prince ; the despair of the Spaniards ; the
desperate resolution of Pizarro, and the Satanic calmness of the
perfidy with which, whooping “St Jago and at them 1 ” he flung
himself upon the confiding Inca and his vassals — these things
may be narrated again and narrated differently, but will never, l
imagine, be described better than Prescott has described them.
With the same unhasting and remorseless pomp the historian
goes on to describe how the conquerors punished themselves, and
by what successive steps, as each of the conquistadors in turn fell
a prey to the Terror he had engendered, the last of the Incas was
bloodily avenged. I hope that every one who reads this Introduction

xvi Introduction

will read the whole story ; and no one can read it without profound
emotion, for it is splendidly, magnificently told.

As in the somewhat analogous but entirely distinct case of Mexico,
the Peruvians had displaced an elder civilisation of an older race,
now represented only by a few Cyclopean remains scattered hither
and thither on the Pacific slope. Of this culture as a whole it is
still regarded as most probable that it had its origin in the region
of Lake Titicaca, and that it was indigenous. On the subject of the
Peruvian mythology Prescott’s investigations have to a large
extent been superseded by the work of D. G. Brinton, Hutchinson,
Payne, Enock, Lewis Spence1 and others ; his account of the social
organisation of the Inca Empire remains, probably, a mere rough
shell or outline. The form of socialism depicted is certainly a most
peculiar one, and combines features that might equally be derived
from the Utopia or from one of the monarchies limned for us by
Mr. Lemuel Gulliver. There seems, however, little reason to doubt
that the Empire under Huayna Capac, not excepting even the State
described in the Book of Judges, formed the most complete,
absolute and intricate theocracy that the world has ever seen.
For a religious communistic despotism anything like so complete
in its tyranny and its discipline we must go for a parallel to the
ancient social organisation of Japan, before the rise of the military
power and the dictatorship of lyeyasu. It is plain in such cases,
as Hearne points out, that however well such a system may be
adapted to a race apart, a society whose ethical traditions forbid
the individual to profit at the cost of his fellow-men cannot fail
in the end to be placed at an enormous disadvantage, when forced
into a struggle for existence with a power whose self-government
permits of extensive personal freedom, and the widest range of
competitive enterprise.

The Inca of Peru was the head of a colossal bureaucracy which
had ramifications into the very homes of the people themselves.
Thus, after the Inca came the governors of provinces, who were of
the blood royal ; then officials were placed above ten thousand
families, a thousand families, a hundred and even ten families, upon
the principle that the rays of the sun enter everywhere. Personal
freedom was a thing unknown. Each individual was under direct
surveillance, branded and numbered like the herds of llamas which
were the special property of the sun incarnate, the Inca. Rules and
regulations abounded in a manner unheard of even in police-ridden
Prussia, and no one had the opportunity in this vast social machine

1 See Select Bibliography at the end of his Mythology of Ancient Mexico
and Peru in Constable’s “Religions Ancient and Modern” (Shilling
primers).

Introduction xvii

of thinking or acting for himself. His walk in life was marked out
for him from the time he was five years of age, and the woman he
was to marry was selected for him by responsible officials. Even
the place of his birth was indicated by a coloured ribbon, which he
dared not remove, tied round his head. All in this community who
were able to work were obliged to work. On the other hand, all
lived in some sort of comfort, and there was secure provision
for the helpless, the crippled and the aged.

Like most artists who indulge the vision of the inner eye, Prescott
may have laid the colour on a little too thick in places. He may
have exaggerated to a slight extent both the popularity and efficacy
of the pagan rule and also the inhuman and unprovoked barbarity
of the fanatical Spaniard. But there can be little doubt that
the Spanish conquest destroyed a most remarkable civilisation,
adapted in the main with a rare felicity to the people who lived
under its sway. The colonial policy of Spain, as Sir Clements
Markham shows us in his valuable books on Peru, entailed
intolerable sufferings and nearly annihilated the native population,
which was reduced in three hundred years from ten millions to one
million. Of the Spanish conquest of Peru, as of the Norman
conquest of England (to which it has a few poignant affinities), it
may be said that it aroused the Peruvians out of their “ pot-bellied
equanimity ” ; that it invigorated their administrative constitution,
civil, military and ecclesiastical ; that it opened the door to new
European products, and that it reinforced the native stock from the
Latin race. All who regard history as “ worth while ” are expected
to admit that both conquests, in the end, were blessings in disguise.
Either before or after Prescott the same ground has been partly
traversed by Robertson, Winsor, Helps, Markham, Llorente and
others. All have depended well nigh exclusively upon the old
Spanish historians of the sixteenth century. And there practically
are no others. For the Peruvians left no available records, with
the important exception of those which appeal primarily not to the
historian, but to the anthropologist or archaeologist in the widest
sense.1 Prescott, as is well known, put a high, but not too high,
value on the work of Robertson, and it is interesting to this day to
compare the arrangement and the conclusions of the two writers.

A rather peculiar and noteworthy feature of the Peru is the
apparent indifference in it shown by Prescott to the cause of human
liberty. He treats Las Casas as a dreamer, the Council of the
Indies in their attempts to put an end to the barbarous enslavement
of the Indians as Utopian, and he cannot find a good word for

1 See the Catalogue of American Mythology and Archaeology published
by Herr Karl Hiersemann of Leipsic.

xviii Introduction

Blasco Nunez, who tried to carry these counsels of humanity into
execution. The apparent inconsistency was commented on by
D'Haussonville and explained partly by the delicacy of the subject
as it appeared to Northern writers of America in those early days,
partly by Prescott’s conservatively historical cast of mind. He is
above all a raconteur des morqeaux historiques , and he needs an
exceptional serenity of mind for this kind of art, which is apt to be
ruined at once by the dust of conflict.

The one striking fact that emerges is that, notwithstanding all
the disintegrating forces that have been set to work by modern
pressure upon the great upstanding monuments of history,
Prescott’s Peru remains erect ; and for the most part, and, to a
really surprising extent, unsuperseded. I believe I have heard it
said that “we could have better spared a better book.” However
that may be, there can, I think, be very little doubt that, with all
its faults, The Conquest of Peru is a book to be reckoned with, now
and in the future.

Thomas Seccombe.

Among more recent authorities on the subject, the following are
available to English readers: O. von Hanstein, The World of the
Incas (translated), 1924; P. A. Means, Ancient Civilization of the
Andes, 1931; Fall of the Inca Empire, 1932; H. Bingham, Lost City
of the Incas, 1951; R. J. Owens, Peru, 1963.

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic, 3 vols., 1837-8 ;
several later editions: new and revised edition, with the author’s latest
corrections and additions, ed. J. F. Kirk, 1873, 1887, 1892; author’s
authorized edition, 1882; another edition, 1890; History of the Conquest of
Mexico, 3 vols., 1843, 1846, and later editions; new and revised edition,
etc., ed. J. F. Kirk, 1874, I9°I (Bohn’s Standard Library, 1903);
Critical and Historical Essays (chiefly from the North American Review),
1845; History of the Conquest of Peru, 2 vols., 1847, and later editions;
new and revised edition, etc., ed. J. F. Kirk, 1874, I893, 1902 (Bohn’s
Standard Library), 1959; author’s authorized version, 1882, and subsequent
editions; Memoir of John Pickering, 1848; History of the Reign of Philip
the Second, King of Spain, vols. i, ii, 1855; tenth thousand, 1856; vol. iii
(with Biographical and Critical Miscellanies), 1872; the 3 vols., 1873; new
and revised editions, etc., ed. J. F. Kirk, 1887, 1902 (Bohn’s Standard
Library); Memoir of the Honourable Abbott Lawrence, 1856; Account of the
Emperor Charles V’s Life after his Abdication (addition to Robertson’s
Charles the Fifth), 1857.

works. Ed. by J. F. Kirk, illus., 15 vols., 1893; W. H. Munro, 22 vols.
(with Ticknor’s Life), 1905, 1906.

See lives by G. Ticknor, 1864; H. T. Peck, 1905; R. A. Humphreys, 1959.

CONTENTS

Introduction by Thomas Seccombe

PAGE

Publisher's Note

xviii

Select Bibliography

xviii

BOOK I

INTRODUCTION - VIEW OF THE CIVILISATION OF THE INCAS

CHAPTER I

PHYSICAL ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY — SOURCES OF PERUVIAN
CIVILISATION — EMPIRE OF THE INCAS — ROYAL FAMILY-
NOBILITY

Extent of the Peruvian Empire — Its Topographical Aspect — Un¬
favourable to Husbandry — Natural Impediments overcome —
Source of Civilisation — Children of the Sun — Other Traditions —

Their Uncertainty — Conquests of the Incas — City of Cuzco —
Fortress of Cuzco — Its remarkable Structure — Queen of the Inca
— Heir- Apparent — Order of Chivalry — Ceremonies of Admission
— Inca a Despot — His Dress — Intercourse with the People —
Progresses through the Country — Royal Palaces — Their gorgeous
Decorations — Gardens of Yucay — All closed at the Inca’s Death —
Obsequies of the Incas — Their Bodies preserved — Produced at
Festivals — Inca Nobles — Their exclusive Privileges — Curacas —

Inca Nobility the highest . . . I

CHAPTER II

ORDERS OF THE STATE — PROVISIONS FOR JUSTICE — DIVISION OF
LANDS — REVENUES AND REGISTERS — GREAT ROADS AND POSTS
— MILITARY TACTICS AND POLICY

Name of Peru — Divisions of the Empire — Tribunals of Justice —
Character of the Laws — Simple Administration of Justice-
Threefold Distribution of Lands — Division renewed yearly —
Agrarian Law — The Land cultivated by the People — Appropria¬
tion and care of the Llamas — Woollen Manufactures — Labour in
Peru — Registers and Surveys by Government — Rotation of Labour
— Magazines of Products and Manufactures — Taxation borne
wholly by the People — No Room for Progress — No Pauperism —
Monuments of Peruvian Industry — Great Roads — Suspension
Bridges — Caravansaries, or Tambos — System of Post — Relays of
Couriers — Military Policy of the Incas — Conquests in the Name
of Religion — Peruvian Army — Arms and Armour — Military
Quarters and Magazines — Lenient Policy in War — Religion of
the Conquered Nations — Disposition of the Conquered Territory
— Quichua Language — Mitimaes — Unity of Purpose in Peruvian
Institutions — Domestic Quiet their Aim — Religious Character of
Peruvian Wars — Singular Harmony in their Empire .

Contents

CHAPTER III

PERUVIAN RELIGION — DEITIES — GORGEOUS TEMPLES— FESTIVALS
— VIRGINS OF THE SUN — MARRIAGE

Religion of the American Races — Peruvian Notions of a Future Life —
Embalming and Burial — Idea of a God — Worship of the Sun —
Inferior Deities — Temple of the Sun at Cuzco — Its Richness and
Splendour — Temples of Inferior Deities — Utensils and Ornaments
of Gold — Proofs of Ancient Magnificence — High Priest — Sacer¬
dotal Order — Duties of Priests — Festival of Raymi — Human
Sacrifices rare — Sacred Flame — Religious Ceremony — -Virgins of
the Sun — Convents — Brides of the Inca — Marriage universal —
Provisions for Marriage .... •

CHAPTER IV

EDUCATION — QUIPUS — ASTRONOMY — AGRICULTURE — AQUEDUCTS —
GUANO — IMPORTANT ESCULENTS

Education in Peru — Seminaries and Amautas — Quipus and Quipuca-
mayus — Method of transmitting History — Various Symbols of
Thought — Quipus the poorest — Traditional Minstrelsy — Quichua
Dialect — Theatrical Exhibitions— Division of Time — Regulated
by the Equinoxes — Little Progress in Astronomy — The Inca’s
care of Agriculture — System of Irrigation — Aqueducts— Terraces
on the Sierra — Guano — Substitute for the Plough — Fairs —
Variety of Products — Indian Corn — Cuca — Potatoes • •

CHAPTER V

PERUVIAN SHEEP — GREAT HUNTS — MANUFACTURES — MECHANICAL
SKILL — ARCHITECTURE — CONCLUDING REFLECTIONS

Advantages of Manufactures — The Llama — Alpacas — Huanacos and
Vicunas — Great Annual Hunts — Woollen Manufactures — Division
of Mechanical Labour — Extraordinary Dexterity in the Arts — No
use of Iron — Gold and Silver — Architecture a Test of Civilisation
— Peruvian Architecture — Houses — Their Simplicity of Construc¬
tion — Adaptation to Climate — Comparison between the Inca and
Aztec Races — In Policy and Religion — In Science — Peruvian and
Eastern Empires — The Incas perfect Despots — Careful of the
People — No Free Agency in Peru — No Idleness or Poverty —
Influence of Government on Character— Life and Works of
Sarmiento — And of Polo de Ondegardo .

Contents

xxi

BOOK II

DISCOVERY OF PERU
CHAPTER I

ANCIENT AND MODERN SCIENCE — ART OF NAVIGATION — MARITIME
DISCOVERY — SPIRIT OF THE SPANIARDS — POSSESSIONS IN THE
NEW WORLD — RUMOURS CONCERNING PERU

PAGB

Introductory Remarks — Progress in Navigation — Early Voyages of
Discovery — Discovery of America — Romantic Expectations —
Northern and Southern Adventurers — Extent of Discovery —
Balboa reaches the Pacific — Colonial Policy — Pedro Arias de
Avila — Foundation of Panamd — First Southern Expedition —
Rumours respecting Peru . . . . . . .112

CHAPTER II

FRANCISCO PIZARRO — HIS EARLY HISTORY — FIRST EXPEDITION TO
THE SOUTH — DISTRESSES OF THE VOYAGERS — SHARP EN¬
COUNTERS — RETURN TO PANAMA — ALMAGRO’S EXPEDITION

Francis Pizarro’s early Life — He goes to Hispaniola — Various
Adventures — He accompanies Pedrarias to Panamd — Southern
Expeditions — Almagro and Luque — Their Union with Pizarro —

First Expedition for Discovery — Pizarro takes Command of it —
Enters the River Biru — Distresses on Shore — Pursues his
Voyage along the Coast — Heavy Tempests — Puts back and lands
— Great Sufferings of the Spaniards — Montenegro sent back for
Supplies — Indian Village — Great Distresses during his Absence —

He returns with Assistance — Uncertainty of the Spaniards — They
proceed farther South — Traces of Cannibalism — Pizarro recon¬
noitres the Country — Fierce Conflict with the Natives — Danger
of Pizarro — He sends back his Vessel — Adventures of Almagro —

He joins Pizarro — Returns to Panama ..... 123

CHAPTER III

THB FAMOUS CONTRACT— SECOND EXPEDITION— RUIZ EXPLORES
THE COAST — PIZARRO’S SUFFERINGS IN THE FOREST — ARRIVAL
OF NEW RECRUITS — FRESH DISCOVERIES ANL DISASTERS —
PIZARRO ON THE ISLE OF GALLO

Almagro coolly received by Pedrarias — Influence of Fernando de
Luque — Narrow Views of the Governor — His subsequent History
— Pizarro, Almagro, and Luque — Famous Contract for dis¬
covering Peru — Religious Tone assumed in it — Motives of the

XXI 1

Contents

Conquerors — Luque’s Share in the Enterprise — Preparations for
the Voyage — Insufficiency of Supplies — Sailing of the Armament
— Almagro returns to Panama — The Pilot Ruiz explores the
Coast— Indian Balsas — Signs of Higher Civilisation — Returns
with Indian Captives — Pizarro’s Journey into the Interior —
Frightful Difficulties of the March — Almagro returns with
Recruits — They continue their Voyage — Thickly -settled Country
— Gold and Precious Stones — Warlike .\spect of the Natives —
Deliberations of the Spaniards — Dispute between Pizarro and
Almagro — The latter returns to Panama — Pizarro remains at the
Isle of Gallo — His Followers discontented — Send home a Secret
Letter ...........

CHAPTER IV

INDIGNATION OF THE GOVERNOR — STERN RESOLUTION OF PIZARRO —
PROSECUTION OF THE VOYAGE — BRILLIANT ASPECT OF TUMBEZ
— DISCOVERIES ALONG THE COAST — RETURN TO PANAMA —
PIZARRO EMBARKS FOR SPAIN

Pizarro ordered to return — He refuses — His Bold Resolution— Eleven
adhere to him — Pizarro’s heroic Constancy — Left on the Isle of
Gorgona — Efforts of Luque and Almagro — Succours sent to
Pizarro — Pie continues his Voyage — Enters the Gulf of Guayaquil
— Lands at Tumbez — Kind Reception by its Inhabitants — Visit
of an Inca Noble — Adventure of Molina — Pedro de Candia sent
on Shore — Kindly treated by the Natives — Reports of the Riches
of the Place — Joy of the Spaniards — Pizarro again Steers for the
South — Tossed about by Tempests — Touches at various Points
of the Coast — Splendid Accounts of the Peruvian Empire —
Arrives at the Port of Santa — Homeward Voyage — Lands at
Santa Cruz — Entertained by an Indian Princess — Continues his
Voyage to Panama — Joy and Triumph of his Associates — Cold¬
ness of the Governor — Pizarro goes as Envoy to Spain — Notice
of Garcilasso de la Vega — His Life and Writings — Character of
his Works. ...... ....

BOOK III

CONQUEST OF PERU
CHAPTER I

PIZARRO’S RECEPTION AT COURT — HIS CAPITULATION WITH THE
CROWN — HE VISITS HIS BIRTHPLACE — RETURNS TO THE NEW
WORLD — DIFFICULTIES WITH ALMAGRO — HIS THIRD EXPEDI¬
TION — ADVENTURES ON THE COAST — BATTLES IN THE ISLE OF
PUNA.

Pizarro in Spain — Gracious Reception at Court — Relates his Adven¬
tures to the Emperor— His Capitulation with the Crown — •

Contents

xxm

PAGE

Dignities conferred on him — Provisions in behalf of the Natives
— Grasping Spirit of Pizarro — He Visits his Birthplace — The
Pizarro Family — His Brother Hernando — Obstacles to the
Expedition — Sails and crosses to Nombre de Dios — Amalgro
greatly discontented — A Rupture with difficulty prevented —
Expedition fitted out at Panama — Pizarro’s Final Voyage to Peru
— Driven into Bay of St. Matthew — Lands his Forces — Plunders
an Indian Village — Division of Spoil — He Marches along the
Coast — Sufferings and Discontent of the Spaniards — Joined by
Reinforcements — They reach Puerto Viejo — Cross to Isle of Puna
— Conspiracy of its Inhabitants — They Attack the Spanish Camp
— Arrival of De Soto with Recruits . . . . . .184

CHAPTER II

PERU AT THE TIME OF THE CONQUEST — REIGN OF HU AYNA CAPAC
— THE INCA BROTHERS — CONTEST FOR THE EMPIRE — TRIUMPH
AND CRUELTIES OF ATAHUALLPA

The Inca Huayna Capac — His Apprehensions respecting the White
Men — Prognostics of Trouble in Peru — Atahuallpa the Inca’s
Son — Shares the Empire with his Brother Huascar — Causes
of Jealousy between them — Commencement of Hostilities —
Hua^car’s Forces defeated — Ravage of Canaris — Atahuallpa
marches on Cuzco — His Victory at Quipaypan — Capture of
Huascar — Accounts of Atahuallpa’s Cruelties — Reasons for
doubting their Accuracy — Atahuallpa’s Triumph — His Want of
Foresight. .......... 202

CHAPTER III

THE SPANIARDS LAND AT TUMBEZ — PIZARRO RECONNOITRES THE
COUNTRY — FOUNDATION OF SAN MIGUEL— -MARCH INTO THE
INTERIOR — EMBASSY FROM THE INCA — ADVENTURES ON THE
MARCH — REACH THE FOOT OF THE ANDES

Spaniards pass over to Tumbez — The Place deserted and dismantled
— Its Curaca captured — Pizarro reconnoitres the Country — His
conciliating Policy — Pizarro founds San Miguel — Learns the
State of the Kingdom — Determines to strike into the Interior —

His probable Intentions — Boldness of the Enterprise — Marches
through the Level Country — Hospitality of the Natives — Discon¬
tent in the Army — Pizarro’s Expedient to quiet it — Reception at
Zaran — Envoy from the Inca — Courteously received by Pizarro —

His Message to the Inca — De Soto’s Expedition — His Accounts
of the Indian Empire — March towards Caxamalca — Contradictory
Information — Emissary to Atahuallpa — Effective Eloquence of
Pizarro ........... 214

XXIV

Contents

CHAPTER IV

SEVERE PASSAGE OF THE ANDES — EMBASSIES FROM ATAHUALLPA-
THE SPANIARDS REACH CAXAMALCA — EMBASSY TO THE INCA
— INTERVIEW WITH THE INCA — DESPONDENCY OF THE
SPANIARDS

FAGB

March over the Andes — Fearful Passes of the Sierra — Toilsome
and Dangerous Ascent — Mountain Fortresses — The Army gain
the Summit — Indian Embassy — Lofty Tone of Pizarro — Return
of the Spanish Envoy — Different Accounts of Atahuallpa — Bold
Descent of the Cordilleras — Beautiful Valley of Caxamalca —
Imposing View of the Peruvian Camp — Entrance into Caxamalca
— Description of the City — De Soto sent to Atahuallpa — His
Interview with the Monarch — Haughty Demeanour of the Latter
-—His Reply to Pizarro — De Soto’s Exhibition of Horsemanship
— Gloomy Forebodings of the Spaniards — Courage of Pizarro —
Daring Plan for seizing the Inca — Reasons for its Adoption . 231

CHAPTER V

DESPERATE PLAN OF PIZARRO — ATAHUALLPA VISITS THE SPANIARDS
— HORRIBLE MASSACRE — THE INCA A PRISONER — CONDUCT OF
THE CONQUERORS — SPLENDID PROMISES OF THE INCA — DEATH
OF HUASCAR

Disposition of the Spanish Troops — Religions Ceremonies — Approach
of the Inca — Designs not to enter the Town — Disappointment
of the Spaniards — Atahuallpa changes his Purpose — Leaves his
Warriors behind — Enters the Great Square — Urged to embrace
Christianity — He rejects it with Disdain — General Attack of the
Spaniards — Bloody Massacre of the Peruvians — Seizure of
Atahuallpa — Dispersion of his Army — Demeanour of the Captive
Monarch — His probable Designs — Courteously treated by Pizarro
— Indian Prisoners — Rich Spoils of the Inca — Magnificent Offer
of Atahuallpa — Accepted by Pizarro — Inca’s Mode of Life in
Captivity — Refuses to embrace Christianity — Assassination of
his Brother Huascar . 246

CHAPTER VI

GOLD ARRIVES FOR THE RANSOM — VISIT TO PACHACAMAC — DEMOLI¬
TION OF THE IDOL — THE INCA’S FAVOURITE GENERAL — THE
INCA’S LIFE IN CONFINEMENT — ENVOY’S CONDUCT IN CUZCO —
ARRIVAL OF ALMAGRO

Slow Arrival of the Ransom — Rumours of an Indian Rising —
Emissaries sent to Cuzco — City and Temple of Pachacamac —
Hernando Pizarro’s March thither — Great Road of the Incas — -
Herds of Llamas — Rich Cultivation of the Valleys — Hernando’s

Contents

xxv

FAGS

Arrival at the City — Forcible Entry into the Temple — Horror of
the Natives — Destruction of the Indian Idol — Small Amount of
Booty — Hernando marches against Challcuchima — Persuades
him to visit Caxamalca — Interview of Atahuallpa with his
General — The Inca’s absolute Authority — His personal Habits
and Appearance — Return of the Emissaries from Cuzco —
Magnificent Reports of the City — They strip the Gold from the
Temples — Their Insolence and Rapacity — Return with Loads
of Treasure — Almagro arrives in Peru — Brings a Large Rein¬
forcement — Joins Pizarro’ s Camp — Superstitious Bodings of
Atahuallpa .......... 266

CHAPTER VII

IMMENSE AMOUNT OF TREASURE — ITS DIVISION AMONG THE
TROOPS — RUMOURS OF A RISING — TRIAL OF THE INCA — HIS
EXECUTION — REFLECTIONS

Division of the Inca’s Ransom — Hernando takes the Royal Fifth to
Spain — His Jealousy of Almagro — Enormous Amount of the
Treasure — Difficulties in its Distribution — Shares of the Pizarros
— Those of the Soldiers — Exclusion of Almagro and his Followers
— Preparations for the March to Cuzco — The Inca demands his
Liberty — Equivocal Conduct of Pizarro — The Interpreter Felipillo
— The Inca charged with exciting Insurrection — His Protestations
of Innocence — His Apprehensions — Fears and Murmurs of the
Spaniards — -They demand the Inca’s Death — Pie is brought to
Trial — Charges against him — Condemned to be burnt alive —

Some protest against the Sentence — The Inca entirely unmanned
— His earnest Entreaties for Mercy — Led to Execution — Abjures
his Religion — Perishes by the Garrote — His Character and
Appearance — Funeral Obsequies — Return of De Soto — His
Indignation and Astonishment — Reflections on the Inca’s Treat¬
ment — Responsibility of Pizarro — Motives of Personal Pique —
Views of Chroniclers respecting the Execution .... 280

CHAPTER VIII

DISORDERS IN PERU — MARCH TO CUZCO — ENCOUNTER WITH THE
NATIVES — CHALLCUCHIMA BURNT — ARRIVAL IN CUZCO —
DESCRIPTION OF THE CITY — TREASURE FOUND THERE

Authority of the Inca in Peru — Effects of Atahuallpa’s Death — New
Inca appointed by Pizarro — March to Cuzco — Formidable
Mountain Passes — Tedious and Painful Route — Conflict with the
Indians — Pizarro halts at Xauxa — De Soto sent forward —
Furiously assaulted in the Sierra — Fierce Battle with the Indians
— Apprehensions of the Spaniards — Arrival of Succours — The
Peruvians retreat — Challcuchima accused of Conspiracy — Death
of the Inca Toparca— Rich Vale of Xaquixaguana — Trial and

XXVI

Contents

page;

Condemnation of Challcuchima — Burned alive before the Army
— Spaniards arrive at Cuzco — Entrance into the Capital — Its
Large Population — Gorgeous Edifices — Its Massive Fortress —
Temple of the Sun — Plunder of the Public Buildings — Amount
of Treasure secured — Its Division among the Troops — Its Effect
upon the Spaniards . . . . 301

CHAPTER IX

NEW INCA CROWNED — MUNICIPAL REGULATIONS — TERRIBLE
MARCH OF ALVARADO — INTERVIEW WITH PIZARRO— FOUNDA¬
TION OF LIMA — HERNANDO PIZARRO REACHES SPAIN —
SENSATION AT COURT — FEUDS OF ALMAGRO AND THE
PIZARROS

Inca Manco crowned — Spanish Government in Cuzco — Christian
Churches founded — Labours of the Missionaries — Sharp En¬
counters with the Natives — Landing of Pedro Alvarado — His
March to Quito — Terrible Passage of the Puertos Nevados —
Sufferings from Cold and Starvation — Eruption of Cotopaxi —
Alvarado reaches the Table-land — Benalcazar’s Expedition —
Almagro’s Pursuit — Agreement between Alvarado, and Almagro
— Pizarro at Xauxa — His Meeting with Alvarado — Site for a
New Capital — Foundation of Lima — Almagro goes to Cuzco—
Hernando Pizarro sent to Spain — Admitted to an Audience by
the Emperor — Royal Grants to the Conquerors — Sensation pro¬
duced by his Accounts — Returns with a Large Armament — His
sufferings at Nombre de Dios — Elation of Almagro — Difficulty
between him and Pizarro— Reconciliation effected — Singular
Compact — Almagro’s Expedition to Chili — Pizarro embellishes
his Capita! — His tranquil Occupations ..... 319

CHAPTER X

ESCAPE OF THE INCA — RETURN OF HERNANDO PIZARRO — RISING
OF THE PERUVIANS — SIEGE AND BURNING OF CUZCO — DIS¬
TRESSES OF THE SPANIARDS — STORMING OF THE FORTRESS —
PIZARRO’S DISMAY — THE INCA RAISES THE SIEGE

Condition of the Conquered Country — Inca Manco — Conspiracy of
the Peruvians — Escape and Recapture of the Inca — Kindly
treated by Hernando Pizarro — The Inca’s final Escape — Plotly
pursued by Juan Pizarro — Defeated on the Yucay — Juan Pizarro
entangled in the Mountains — Summoned back to Cuzco — The
Indians besiege it — Anxiety of ihe Spaniards — Firing of the City
— Terrible Conflagration — Perilous condition of the Spaniards —
Desperate Combats — Distress of the Besieged — Their Resolute
Determination — Furious Sally — Discipline of the Natives —
Terrible Slaughter of them — The Spaniards storm the Citadel
— Death of Juan Pizarro — Heroism of an Inca Noble — The

Contents

xxvn

PAGE

Fortress taken — Scarcity of Provisions —Reinforcements cut off
— Consternation of the Spaniards — Pizarro seeks Supplies from
the North — The Inca withdraws his Forces — Chivalrous En¬
counters — Attempt to seize the Inca — Attack on his Quarters at
Tambo — The Spaniards compelled to Retreat — Biographical
Notice of Pedro Pizarro — Notice of Montesinos . . . 340

BOOK IV

CIVIL WARS OF THE CONQUERORS
CHAPTER I

ALMAGRO’s MARCH TO CHILI — SUFFERINGS OF THE TROOPS — HE
RETURNS AND SEIZES CUZCO — ACTION OF ABANCAY — GASPAR
DE ESPINOSA — ALMAGRO LEAVES CUZCO — NEGOTIATIONS WITH
PIZARRO

Aimagro sets out for Chili — Wild Scenery of the Andes — Numbers
perish of Cold and Famine — Horrible Sufferings of his Army —
Cruelty towards his Indian Allies — Overtaken by Rodrigo de
Orgonez — Receives Bad Tidings from the South — Returns by the
Desert of Atacama — Many perish among the Sands — Arrives
near Cuzco— Battle with the Inca’s Troops — Claims Jurisdiction
over Cuzco — Takes possession of the Place - Captures Hernando
and Gonzalo Pizarro — Orgonez advises their Death — Marches
against Alonso de Alvarado — Battle of Abancay — Aimagro
defeats and takes him Prisoner —Returns to Cuzco — Pizarro
greatly alarmed — Sends Espinosa to negotiate — Death of his
Emissary — Critical Situation of the Brothers Pizarro — Aimagro
leaves Cuzco for the Coast — Stormy Conference with Francis
Pizarro — Bitter Feelings of Aimagro — Politic Concessions of
Pizarro — Treaty concluded between them — Hernando set at
Liberty . . . 367

CHAPTER II

FIRST CIVIL WAR — ALMAGRO RETREATS TO CUZCO— BATTLE OF
LAS SALINAS — CRUELTY OF THE CONQUERORS — TRIAL AND
EXECUTION OF ALMAGRO — HIS CHARACTER

Pizarro prepares for War — Perfidiously breaks the Treaty — Aimagro
disabled by Illness — He retreats to Cuzco — Orgofiez takes
Command of the Forces — Hernando Pizarro marches against
him — Composition of the Army — His Order of Battle — Attacks
Orgofiez — Bloody Battle of Las Salinas — Heroism and Death
of Orgonez — Rout of the Army — Aimagro taken Prisoner —
Assassination of Pedro de Lerma — 1 1 ernundo occupies Cuzco — ■
Illness and Distress of Aimagro — lie is brought to Trial—

Contents

xxviii

FAGB

Sentenced to Death — Earnestly sues for Life — Appoints his Son
his Successor — Is strangled in Prison — His Character — His Free
and Liberal Temper — Unfortunate connection with Pizarro . 382

CHAPTER III

PIZARRO REVISITS CUZCO — HERNANDO RETURNS TO CASTILE — HIS
LONG IMPRISONMENT — COMMISSIONERS SENT TO PERU —
HOSTILITIES WITH THE INCA— PIZARRO’S ACTIVE ADMINIS¬
TRATION — GONZALO PIZARRO

Pizarro marches towards Cuzco — Learns Almagro’s Death — His own
Agency in it — His Arrogant Conduct — Gross Partiality to his
Family — Hernando returns with much Gold to Spain — His
Warning to his Brother — Coldly received at Court — Is thrown
into Prison — Detained fhere for many Years — His Character —
Disorderly State of Peru — Commissioner sent out by the Crown
— Vaca de Castro arrives in Peru — War with the Inca Manco —
Cruelty of Pizarro to one of his Wives — Pizarro establishes
Settlements in Peru — His Journey to Lima — His Efficient
Administration — Gonzalo Pizarro sent to Quito — Character of
that Chief .......... 396

CHAPTER IV

GONZALO PIZARRO’S EXPEDITION — PASSAGE ACROSS THE MOUN¬
TAINS — DISCOVERS THE NAPO — INCREDIBLE SUFFERINGS —
ORELLANA SAILS DOWN THE AMAZON — DESPAIR OF THE
SPANIARDS — THE SURVIVORS RETURN TO QUITO

Expedition to the Land of Cinnamon — Gonzalo leads it — Tempestuous
Weather on the March — Forests of Enormous Growth — Miseries
and Sufferings of the Spaniards — They arrive on the Borders of
the Napo — Stupendous Cataract — Perilous Passage of the River
— They construct a Brigantine — Orellana takes Command of it —
They reach the Banks of the Amazon — Orellana’s Wonderful
Voyage — His subsequent Fate — Dismal Situation of the Spaniards
— Courageous Spirit of Gonzalo — Their return through the
Wilderness — Frightful Mortality — Survivors re-enter Quito . 408

CHAPTER V

THE ALMAGRO FACTION — THEIR DESPERATE CONDITION — CON¬
SPIRACY AGAINST FRANCISCO PIZARRO — ASSASSINATION OF
PIZARRO — ACTS OF THE CONSPIRATORS — PIZARRO’S CHARACTER

Pizarro’s Policy towards the Men of Chili — Their Destitute Condition
— Pizarro’s Contemptuous Treatment of them — Their Disaffection

Contents

xxix

PAGH

— Conspiracy against Pizarro — Betrayed to him — His strange
Insensibility — Assaulted in his Palace — Is deserted by his Friends
— Plis Coolness and Intrepidity — His Desperate Defence — His
Death — Proceedings of the Conspirators — Fate of Pizarro’s
Remains — His Family — His House at Truxillo — His Personal
Appearance — His Liberality — His Want of Education — His
Courage and Constancy — His Inflexible Spirit — Compared with
Cortes — His treatment of the Indians — Want of Religion — His
Avarice and Ambition — Extenuating Circumstances . . .419

CHAPTER VI

MOVEMENTS OF THE CONSPIRATORS — ADVANCE OF VACA DE
CASTRO — PROCEEDINGS OF ALMAGRO — PROGRESS OF THE
GOVERNOR — THE FORCES APPROACH EACH OTHER — BLOODY
PLAINS OF CHUPAS — CONDUCT OF VACA DE CASTRO

Arrival of Vaca de Castro — Difficulties of his Situation — He assumes
the Government — Almagro strengthens himself at Lima —
Massacre of Bishop Valverde — His Fanatical Character — Irresolu¬
tion of Almagro — Death of Juan de Rada — Almagro occupies
Cuzco — Puts to Death Garcia de Alvarado — His Energetic
Operations — He vainly attempts to Negotiate — His Address to
his Troops — Amount of his Forces — Marches against Vaca de
Castro — Progress of the Governor — His Politic Management —
Reaches Lima — Musters his Army at Xauxa — Declines the Aid
of Gonzalo Pizarro — Negotiates with Almagro — His Terms
rejected — Occupies the Plains of Chupas — Advance of Almagro
— The Governor forms in Order of Battle — Addresses the
Soldiers — Dispositions of Almagro— Francisco de Carbajal — He
leads the Royal Army — Bloody Conflict — Bravery of Carbajal —

Night overtakes the Combatants — Almagro’s Army gives Way —

His Heroic Efforts — He is made Prisoner — Number of the Slain
— Execution of Almagro — His Character — Gonzalo Pizarro at
Cuzco — Laws for the Government of the Colonies — Wise Conduct
of Vaca de Castro . ...... * 438

CHAPTER VII

ABUSES BY THE CONQUERORS— CODE FOR THE COLONIES — GREAT
EXCITEMENT IN PERU — BLASCO NU&EZ THE VICEROY — HIS
SEVERE POLICY — OPPOSED BY GONZALO PIZARRO

Forlorn condition of the Natives — Brutal Conduct of the Conquerors
— Their Riotous Waste — Remonstrances of Government —
Humane Efforts of Las Casas — Royal Ordinances — Viceroy and
Audience for Peru — Great Commotion in the Colonies — Anxiety
of Vaca de Castro — Colonists apply to Gonzalo Pizarro — Blasco
Nunez Vela, the Viceroy — He arrives in the New World — His
High-handed Measures — The Country thrown into Consternation

XXX

Contents

PAG3

— Gonzalo Pizarro repairs to Cuzco — Assumes the Title of
Procurator — His Ambitious Views 463

CHAPTER VIII

THE VICEROY ARRIVES AT LIMA — GONZALO PIZARRO MARCHES
FROM CUZCO — DEATH OF THE INCA MANCO — RASH CONDUCT
OF THE VICEROY — SEIZED AND DEPOSED BY THE AUDIENCE
— GONZALO PROCLAIMED GOVERNOR OF PERU

Blasco Nufiez, the Viceroy, enters Lima — His Impolitic Behaviour
— Discontent of the Colonists — Gonzalo Pizarro assembles an
Army — Marches from Cuzco — Death of the Inca Manco —
Hesitation of Gonzalo Pizarro — Reassured by Popular Favour —
Suspicious Temper of the Viceroy — He confines Vaca de Castro
— He prepares for War — Audience arrive at Lima — Disapprove
of the Viceroy’s Proceedings — Murder of Suarez de Carbajal — -
Rash Design of the Viceroy — Thwarted by the Audience — Made
Prisoner in his Palace — Sent back to Spain — Gonzalo Pizarro
claims the Government — Cruelties of Carbajal — Audience granted
Pizarro’s Demands — His Triumphant Entry into Lima — Pro¬
claimed Governor — Rejoicings of the People .... 476

CHAPTER IX

MEASURES OF GONZALO PIZARRO — ESCAPE OF VACA DE CASTRO
— REAPPEARANCE OF THE VICEROY — HIS DISASTROUS RETREAT
— DEFEAT AND DEATH OF THE VICEROY — GONZALO PIZARRO
LORD OF PERU

Gonzalo Pizarro establishes his Authority — Vaca de Castro escapes to
Spain — Is there thrown into Confinement — The Viceroy Blasco
Nunez set on Shore — Musters a Force at San Miguel — Gonzalo
marches against him — Surprises him by Night — Pursues him
across the Mountains — Terrible Sufferings of the Armies —
Disaffection among the Viceroy’s Followers — He puts several
Cavaliers to Death — Enters Quito — Driven onward to Popayan
— Reinforced by Benalcazar — Stratagem of Pizarro — Blasco
Nunez approaches Quito — Attempts to surprise Gonzalo Pizarro
— Determines to give him Battle — Addresses his Troops —
Inferiority of his Forces — Battle of Afiaquito — The Viceroy
defeated — Slain on the Field — Great Slaughter of his Troops—
Character of Blasco Nufiez — Difficulty of his Position — Moderation
of Gonzalo Pizarro — His Triumphant Progress to Lima — Undis¬
puted Master of Peru — Carbajal’s Pursuit of Centeno — He woiks
the Mines of Potosf — State assumed by Pizarro — Urged to shake
off his Allegiance — His Hesitation — Critical Notices of Herrera
and Gomara — Life and Writings of Oviedo — And of Cieza de
Leon . . 489

Contents

BOOK V

XXXI

SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY
CHAPTER I

GREAT SENSATION IN SPAIN - PEDRO DE LA GASCA - HIS EARLY

LIFE - HIS MISSION TO PERU — HIS POLITIC CONDUCT - HIS

OFFERS TO PIZARRO - GAINS THE FLEET

PAGE

Consternation produced in Spain — Embarrassments of the Govern¬
ment — Conciliatory Measures adopted — Pedro de la Gasca —
Account of his Early Life — Selected for the Peruvian Mission —
Receives the Injunctions of Government — Demands Unlimited
Powers — Granted by the Emperor — Refuses a Bishopric — Sails
from San Lucar — State of Things in Peru — Gasca arrives at
Nombre de Dios— -His Plain and Unpretending Demeanour — He
gains over Mexia — Cautious Reception of him by Hinojosa — He
distributes Letters through the Country — Communicates with
Gonzalo Pizarro — His Letters to him and Cepeda — He is de¬
tained at Panama — Refuses to employ Violent Measures — Secret
Anxiety of Pizarro — He sends Aldana to Spain — Interview of
Aldana with Gasca — He embraces the Royal Cause — Hinojosa
surrenders the Fleet to Gasca — Gasca’s Temperate Policy succeeds 516

CHAPTER II

GASCA ASSEMBLES HIS FORCES - DEFECTION OF PIZARRO’S FOL¬
LOWERS - HE MUSTERS HIS LEVIES - AGITATION IN LIMA - HE

ABANDONS THE CITY - GASCA SAILS FROM PANAMA - BLOODY

BATTLE OF HUARINA

Gasca seeks Supplies of Men and Money — Aldana sent with a
Squadron to Lima — Influence of Gasca’s Proclamations — Change
of Sentiment in the Country — Letter of Gasca to Pizarro —
Different Views of Carbajal and Cepeda — Centeno seizes Cuzco
for the Crown — Gonzalo’s Active Measures — Splendid Equipment
of his Army — He becomes Suspicious and Violent — Solemn Farce
of Cepeda — Aldana arrives off Lima — Gonzalo’s Followers desert
to him — Perplexity of that Chief — He marches out of Lima —
Tempestuous Voyage of Gasca — He lands at Tumbez — Encamps
at Xauxa — Gonzalo resolves to retire to Chili — Centeno intercepts
him — Pizarro advances to Lake Titicaca — The two Armies
approach Huarina — Inferiority of the Rebel Army — Carbajal’s
Arquebusiers — Battle of Huarina — Centeno’s Cavalry bear down
all before them — Critical Situation of Pizarro — Carbajal’s
Musketeers retrieve the Day — Decisive Victory of the Rebels —
Great loss on both Sides — Escape of Centeno— -Gonzalo Pizarro
enters Cuzco in Triumph ....... 534

CHAPTER III

DISMAY IN GASCA’S CAMP - HIS WINTER QUARTERS - RESUMES HIS

MARCH - CROSSES THE APURIMAC— PIZARRO’S CONDUCT IN

CUZCO - HE ENCAMPS NEAR THE CITY - ROUT OF XAQUIXA-

GUANA

Consternation in the Royal Camp — Energetic Measures of the President
— He marches to Andaguaylas — Joined by Valdivia from Chili —

xxxii Contents

PAGE

Excellent Condition of Gasca’s Troops — He sets out for Cuzco
— Difficult Passage of the Andes — He throws a Bridge over the
Apurimac — Great Hazard in crossing the River — Dangerous
Ascent of the Sierra — He Encamps on the Heights— Gonzalo
Pizarro’s Careless Indifference — Wise Counsel of Carbajal —
Rejected by his Commander — Acosta detached to Guard the
Passes — Tardy Movements of that Officer — Valley of Xaquixa-
guana — Selected as a Battle-ground by Pizarro— Gonzalo takes
up a Position there — Approach of the Royal Army — Skirmish
on the Heights — The President fears a Night Attack — The
Armies drawn up in Battle Array — Chivalrous bearing of Gonzalo
— Desertion of Cepeda — His Example followed by others — A
Panic seizes the Rebel Troops — They break up and disperse —
Pizarro surrenders himself Prisoner — Sternly received by Gasca
— Capture of Carbajal-— Great Booty of the Victors. • . 555

CHAPTER IV

EXECUTION OF CARBAJAL - GONZALO PIZARRO BEHEADED - SPOILS

OF VICTORY - WISE REFORMS BY GASCA - HE RETURNS TO

SPAIN - HIS DEATH AND CHARACTER

Sentence passed on the Prisoners — Indifference of Carbajal — His
Execution — His Early Life — Atrocities committed by him in
Peru — His Caustic Repartees — His Military Science-— Execution
of Gonzalo Pizarro — His Conduct on the Scaffold — Confiscation
of his Estates — His Early History — His Brilliant Exterior — His
want of Education — Fate of Cepeda — And of Gonzalo’ s Officers
— Gasca occupies Cuzco — Gasca’s Difficulty in apportioning
Rewards — His Letter to the Army — Value of Repartimientos —
Murmurs of the Soldiery — The President goes to Lima — His
Care for the Natives — He abolishes Slavery in the Colonies —
Introduces Wholesome Reforms — Tranquillity restored to the
Country — He refuses Numerous Presents — Embarks for Panam4
— His Narrow Escape there — Sails from Nombre de Dios —
Arrives with his Treasure at Seville — Graciously received by
the Emperor — Made Bishop of Siguenza — His Death — His
Personal Appearance — Admirable Balance of his Qualities — His
Common Sense — His Rectitude and Moral Courage — Concluding
Reflections — Critical Notice of Zarate — Life and Writings of
Fernandez • 575

APPENDIX

ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS

Description of the Inca’s Progresses — Account of the Great Peruvian
Road — Policy of the Inca’s in their Conquests — Will of Mancio
Sierra Lejesema — Interview between Pedrarias and Almagro —
Contract of Pizarro with Almagro and Luque — Capitulation of
Pizarro with the Queen — Accounts of Atahuallpa’s Seizure —
Personal Habits of Atahuallpa — Accounts of Atahuallpa’s
Execution — Contract between Pizarro and Almagro — Letter of
Almagro the Younger to the Audience — Letter of the Munici¬
pality of Arequipa to Charles the Fifth — Sentence passed on
Gonzalo Pizarro ........ 603

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION

The most brilliant passages in the history of Spanish adven¬
ture in the New world are undoubtedly afforded by the
conquests of Mexico and Peru, — the two states which combined
with the largest extent of empire a refined social polity, and
considerable progress in the arts of civilisation. Indeed, so
prominently do they stand out on the great canvas of history,
that the name of the one, notwithstanding the contrast they
exhibit in their respective institutions, most naturally suggests
that of the other ; and, when I sent to Spain to collect
materials for an account of the Conquest of Mexico, I included
in my researches those relating to the Conquest of Peru.

The larger part of the documents, in both cases, was obtained
from the same great repository, — the archives of the Royal
Academy of History at Madrid ; a body specially entrusted
with the preservation of whatever may serve to illustrate the
Spanish colonial annals. The richest portion of its collection
is probably that furnished by the papers of Munoz. This
eminent scholar, the historiographer of the Indies, employed
nearly fifty years of his life in amassing materials for a history
of Spanish discovery and conquest in America. For this, as
he acted under the authority of the government, every facility
was afforded him ; and public offices and private depositories,
in all the principal cities of the empire, both at home and
throughout the wide extent of its colonial possessions, were
freely opened to his inspection. The result was a magnificent
collection of manuscripts, many of which he patiently transcribed
with his own hand. But he did not live to reap the fruits of
his persevering industry. The First Volume, relative to the
V oyages of Columbus, was scarcely finished when he died :
and his manuscripts, at least that portion of them which have
reference to Mexico and Peru, were destined to serve the uses
of another, an inhabitant of that New World to which they
related.

Another scholar, to whose literary stores I am largely
indebted, is Don Martin Fernandez de Navarrete, late
Director of the Royal Academy of History. Through the
greater part of his long life he was employed in assembling
original documents to illustrate the colonial annals. Many of

B 301 xxxiii

xxxiv Preface to the First Edition

these have been incorporated in his great work, “ Coleccion de
los Viages y Descubrimientos,” which, although far from being
completed after the original plan of its author, is of inestimable
service to the historian. In following down the track of dis¬
covery, Navarrete turned aside from the conquests of Mexico
and Peru, to exhibit the voyages of his countrymen in the
Indian Seas. His manuscripts, relating to the two former
countries, he courteously allowed to be copied for me. Some
of them have since appeared in print, under the auspices of
his learned coadjutors, Salva and Baranda, associated with
him in the Academy ; but the documents placed in my hands
form a most important contribution to my materials for the
present history.

The death of this illustrious man, which occurred some time
after the present work was begun, has left a void in his country
not easy to be filled ; for he was zealously devoted to letters,
and few have done more to extend the knowledge of her
colonial history. Far from an exclusive solicitude for his own
literary projects, he was ever ready to extend his sympathy and
assistance to those of others. His reputation as a scholar was
enhanced by the higher qualities which he possessed as a man,
— by his benevolence^ his simplicity of manners, and unsullied
moral worth. My own obligations to him are large ; for from
the publication of my first historical work, down to the last
week of his life, I have constantly received proofs from him of
his hearty and most efficient interest in the prosecution of my
historical labours ; and I now the more willingly pay this well-
merited tribute to his deserts, that it must be exempt from all
suspicion of flattery.

In the list of those to whom I have been indebted for
materials, I must, also, include the name of M. Ternaux-
Compans, so well known by his faithful and elegarV- French
versions of the Munoz manuscripts; and that of my friend
Don Pascual de Gayangos, who, under the modest dress of
translation, has furnished a most acute and learned commentary
on Spanish- Arabian history, — securing for himself the foremost
rank in that difficult department of letters, which has been
illumined by the labours of a Masdeu, a Casiri, and a Conde.

To the materials derived from these sources, I have added
some manuscripts of an important character from the library
of the Escurial. These, which chiefly relate to the ancient
institutions of Peru, formed part of the splendid collection of
Lord Kingsborough, which has unfortunately shared the lot of
most literary collections, and been dispersed, since the death

XXXV

Preface to the First Edition

of its noble author. For these I am indebted to that industri¬
ous bibliographer, Mr. O. Rich, now resident in London.
Lastly, I must not omit to mention my obligations, in another
way, to my friend Charles Folsom, Esq., the learned librarian of
the Boston Athenaeum ; whose minute acquaintance with the
grammatical structure and the true idiom of our English tongue,
has enabled me to correct many inaccuracies into which I had
fallen in the composition both of this and of my former works.

From these different sources I have accumulated a large
amount of manuscripts, of the most various character, and from
the most authentic sources ; royal grants and ordinances,
instructions of the court, letters of the Emperor to the great
colonial officers, municipal records, personal diaries and
memoranda, and a mass of private correspondence of the
principal actors in this turbulent drama. Perhaps it was the
turbulent state of the country which led to a more frequent
correspondence between the government at home and the
colonial officers. But, whatever be the cause, the collection
of manuscript materials in reference to Peru is fuller and more
complete than that which relates to Mexico ; so that there is
scarcely a nook or corner so obscure, in the path of the adven¬
turer, that some light has not been thrown on it by the written
correspondence of the period. The historian has rather had
occasion to complain of the embarras de richesses ; for, in the
multiplicity of contradictory testimony, it is not always easy to
detect the truth, as the multiplicity of cross lights is apt to
dazzle and bewilder the eye of the spectator.

The present History has been conducted on the same
general plan with that of the Conquest of Mexico. In an
introductory Book, I have endeavoured to portray the institu¬
tions of the Incas, that the reader may be acquainted with the
character and condition of that extraordinary race, before he
enters on the story of their subjugation. The remaining books
are occupied with the narrative of the Conquest. And here
the subject, it must be allowed, notwithstanding the oppor¬
tunities it presents for the display of character, strange romantic
incident, and picturesque scenery, does not afford so obvious
advantages to the historian, as the Conquest of Mexico. Indeed,
few subjects can present a parallel with that, for the purposes
either of the historian or the poet. The natural development
of the story, there, is precisely what would be described by the
severest rules of art. The conquest of the country is the great
end always in the view of the reader. From the first landing of
the Spaniards on the soil, their subsequent adventures, their

xxxvi Preface to the First Edition

battles and negotiations, their ruinous retreat, their rally and
final siege, all tend to this grand result, till the long series is
closed by the downfall of the capital. In the march of events,
all moves steadily forward to this consummation. It is a
magnificent epic, in which the unity of interest is complete.

In the “ Conquest of Peru,” the action, so far as it is founded
on the subversion of the Incas, terminates long before the
close of the narrative. The remaining portion is taken up with
the fierce feuds of the Conquerors, which would seem, from
their very nature, to be incapable of being gathered round a
central point of interest. To secure this, we must look beyond
the immediate overthrow of the Indian empire. The conquest
of the natives is but the first step, to be followed by the
conquest of the Spaniards, — the rebel Spaniards themselves, —
till the supremacy of the Crown is permanently established
over the country. It is not till this period, that the acquisition
of this Transatlantic empire can be said to be completed; and,
by fixing the eye on this remoter point, the successive steps of
the narrative will be found leading to one great result, and
that unity of interest preserved which is scarcely less essential
to historic than dramatic composition. How far this has been
effected in the present work, must be left to the judgment of
the reader.

No history of the Conquest of Peru, founded on original
documents, and aspiring to the credit of a classic composition,
like the “ Conquest of Mexico ” by Soil's, has been attempted,
as far as I am aware, by the Spaniards. The English possess
one of high value, from the pen of Robertson, whose masterly
sketch occupies its due space in his great work on America.
It has been my object to exhibit this same story, in all its
romantic details ; not merely to portray the characteristic
features of the Conquest, but to fill up the outline with the
colouring of life, so as to present a minute and faithful picture
of the times. For this purpose I have, in the composition of
the work, availed myself freely of my manuscript materials,
allowed the actors to speak as much as possible for themselves,
and especially made frequent use of their letters ; for nowhere
is the heart more likely to disclose itself, than in the freedom
of private correspondence. I have made liberal extracts from
these authorities in the notes, both to sustain the text, and to
put in a printed form those productions of the eminent captains
and statesmen of the time, which aie not very accessible to
Spaniards themselves.

M. Ame'de'e Pichot, in the Preface to the French translation

Preface to the First Edition xxxvii

of the “Conquest of Mexico,” infers from the plan of the com¬
position, that I must have carefully studied the writings of his
countrymen, M. de Barante. The acute critic does me but
justice in supposing me familiar with the principles of that
writer’s historical theory, so ably developed in the Preface to
his “ Dues de Bourgogne.” And I have had occasion to
admire the skilful manner in which he illustrates this theory
himself, by constructing out of the rude materials of a distant
time a monument of genius that transports us at once into the
midst of the Feudal Ages, — and this without the incongruity
which usually attaches to a modern antique. In like manner,
I have attempted to seize the characteristic expression of a
distant age, and to exhibit it in the freshness of life. But,
in an essential particular, I have deviated from the plan of the
French historian : I have suffered the scaffolding to remain
after the building has been completed. In other words, I
have shown to the reader the steps of the process by which I
have come to my conclusions. Instead of requiring him to
take my version of the story on trust, I have endeavoured to
give him a reason for my faith. By copious citations from the
original authorities, and by such critical notices of them as
would explain to him the influences to which they were sub¬
jected, I have endeavoured to put him in a position for judging
for himself, and thus for revising, and, if need be, reversing
the judgments of the historian. He will, at any rate, by this
means, be enabled to estimate the difficulty of arriving at truth
amidst the conflict of testimony ; and he will learn to place
little reliance on those writers who pronounce on the
mysterious past with what Fontenelle calls “ a frightful degree
of certainty,” a spirit the most opposite to that of the true
philosophy of history.

Yet it must be admitted, that the chronicler who records the
events of an earlier age has some obvious advantages in the
store of manuscript materials at his command — the statements
of friends, rivals, and enemies furnishing a wholesome counter¬
poise to each other ; and also, in the general course of events
as they actually occurred, affording the best commentary on
the true motives of the parties. The actor, engaged in the
heat of the strife, finds his view bounded by the circle around
him, and his vision blinded by the smoke and dust of the con¬
flict ; while the spectator, whose eye ranges over the ground
from a more distant and elevated point, though the individual
objects may lose somewhat of their vividness, takes in at a
glance all the operations of the field. Paradoxical as it may

xxxviii Preface to the First Edition

appear, truth founded on contemporary testimony would seem,
after all, as likely to be attained by the writers of a later day as
by contemporaries themselves.

Before closing these remarks, I may be permitted to add a
few of a personal nature. In several foreign notices of my
writings, the author has been said to be blind ; and more than
once I have had the credit of having lost my sight in the com¬
position of my first history. When I have met with such
erroneous accounts, I have hastened to correct them. But
the present occasion affords me the best means of doing so ;
and I am the more desirous of this, as I fear some of my own
remarks, in the Prefaces to my former histories, have led to
the mistake.

While at the University, I received an injury in one of my
eyes, which deprived me of the sight of it. The other, soon
after, was attacked by inflammation so severely that for some
time I lost the sight of that also ; and, though it was sub¬
sequently restored, the organ was so much disordered as to
remain permanently debilitated ; while, twice in my life since,
I have been deprived of the use of it for all purposes of reading
and writing for several years together. It was during one of
these periods that I received from Madrid the materials for the
“History of Ferdinand and Isabella and in my disabled
condition, with my Transatlantic treasures lying around me, I
was like one pining from hunger in the midst of abundance.
In this state I resolved to make the ear, if possible, do the
work of the eye. I procured the services of a secretary, who
read to me the various authorities ; and in time I became so
far familiar with the sounds of the different foreign languages
(to some of which, indeed, I had been previously accustomed
by a residence abroad), that I could comprehend his reading
without much difficulty. As the reader proceeded, I dictated
copious notes ; and, when these had swelled to a considerable
amount, they were read to me repeatedly, till I had mastered
their contents sufficiently for the purposes of composition.
The same notes furnished an easy means of reference to
sustain the text.

Still another difficulty occurred in the mechanical labour of
writing, which I found a severe trial to the eye. This was
remedied by means of a writing-case, such as is used by the
blind, which enabled me to commit my thoughts to paper
without the aid of sight, serving me equally well in the dark
as in the light. The characters thus formed made a near
approach to hieroglyphics ; but my secretary became expert in

Preface to the First Edition xxxix

the art of deciphering, and a fair copy — with a liberal allowance
for unavoidable blunders, was transcribed for the use of the
pi inter. I have described the process with more minuteness,
as some curiosity has been repeatedly expressed in reference
to my modus operandi under my privations, and the know¬
ledge of it may be of some assistance to others in similar
circumstances.

T hough I was encouraged by the sensible progress of my
work, it was necessarily slow. But in time the tendency to
inflammation diminished, and the strength of the eye was
confirmed more and more. It was at length so far restored,
that I could read for several hours of the day, though my
labours in that way necessarily terminated with the daylight.
Nor could I ever dispense with the services of a secretary, or
with the writing-case : for, contrary to the usual experience, I
have found writing a severer trial to the eye than reading, — a
remark, however, which does not apply to the reading of manu¬
script, and to enable myself, therefore, to revise my composition
moie carefully, I caused a copy of the “History of Ferdinand and
Isabella, to be printed for my own inspection, before it was
sent to the press for publication. Such as I have described
was the improved state of my health during the preparation of
the “Conquest of Mexico’’; and, satisfied with being raised
so nearly to a level with the rest of my species, I scarcely
envied the superior good fortune of those who could prolong

their studies into the evening, and the later hours of the
night.

But a change has again taken place during the last two years.
The sight of my eye has become gradually dimmed, while the
sensibility of the nerve has been so far increased, that for
several weeks of the last year I have not opened a volume, and
through the whole time I have not had the use of it, on an
average, for more than an hour a day. Nor can I cheer my¬
self with the delusive expectation, that, impaired as the organ
has become, from having been tasked, probably, beyond its
strength, it can ever renew its youth, or be of much service to
me hereafter, in my literary researches. Whether I shall have
the heart to enter, as I had proposed, on a new and more
extensive field of historical labour, with these impediments, I
cannot say. Perhaps long habit, and a natural desire to follow
up the career which I have so long pursued, may make this, in
a manner, necessary, as my past experience has already proved
that it is practicable.

krom this statement — too long, I fear, for his patience — the

Preface to the First Edition

reader, who feels any curiosity about the matter, will understand
the real extent of my embarrassments in my historical pursuits.
That they have not been very light will be readily admitted,
when it is considered that I have had but a limited use of my
eye, in its best state, and that much of the time I have been
debarred from the use of it altogether. Yet the difficulties I
have had to contend with are very far inferior to those which
fall to the lot of a blind man. I know of no historian, now
alive, who can claim the glory of having overcome such ob¬
stacles, but the author of “ La Conquete de l’Angleterre par
les Normands ” ; who, to use his own touching and beautiful
language, “ has made himself the friend of darkness ” ; and
who, to a profound philosophy that requires no light but that
from within, unites a capacity for extensive and various re¬
search, that might well demand the severest application of the
student.

The remarks into which I have been led at such length, will,
I trust, not be set down by the reader to an unworthy egotism,
but to their true source, a desire to correct a misapprehension
to which I may have unintentionally given rise myself, and
which has gained me the credit with some — far from grateful
to my feelings, since undeserved — of having surmounted the
incalculable obstacles which lie in the path of the blind man.

Boston, April 2, 1847.

CONQUEST OF PERU

BOOK I

INTRODUCTION— VIEW OF THE
CIVILISATION OF THE INCAS

CHAPTER I

PHYSICAL ASPECT OP’ THE COUNTRY - SOURCES OF PERUVIAN

CIVILISATION — EMPIRE OF THE INCAS — ROYAL FAMILY
- NOBILITY

Of the numerous nations which occupied the great American
continent at the time of its discovery by the Europeans, the
two most advanced in power and refinement were undoubtedly
those of Mexico and Peru. But, though resembling one
another in extent of civilisation, they differed widely as to the
nature of it ; and the philosophical student of his species may
feel a natural curiosity to trace the different steps by which
these two nations strove to emerge from the state of barbarism,
and place themselves on a higher point in the scale of humanity.
In a former work I have endeavoured to exhibit the institutions
and character of the ancient Mexicans, and the story of their
conquest by the Spaniards. The present will be devoted to
the Peruvians ; and, if their history shall be found to present
less strange anomalies and striking contrasts than that of the
Aztecs, it may interest us quite as much by the pleasing picture
it offers of a well-regulated government and sober habits of
industry under the patriarchal sway of the Incas.

The empire of Peru, at the period of the Spanish invasion,
stretched along the Pacific from about the second degree north
to the thirty-seventh degree of south latitude ; a line, also,
which describes the western boundaries of the modem republics
of Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Chili. Its breadth cannot so
easily be determined ; for, though bounded everywhere by the
great ocean on the west, towards the east it spread out, in many
parts, considerably beyond the mountains, to the confines of
barbarous states, whose exact position is undetermined, or
*B 301

Conquest of Peru

whose names are effaced from the map of history. It is certain,
however, that its breadth was altogether disproportioned to its
length.1

The topographical aspect of the country is very remarkable.
A strip of land, rarely exceeding twenty leagues in width, runs
along the coast, and is hemmed in through its whole extent by
a colossal range of mountains, which, advancing from the straits
of Magellan, reaches its highest elevation — indeed, the highest
on the American continent — about the seventeenth degree
south,2 and, after crossing the line, gradually subsides into hills
of inconsiderable magnitude as it enters the Isthmus of Panama.
This is the famous Cordillera of the Andes, or “ copper
mountains,” 3 as termed by the natives, though they might
with more reason have been called “mountains of gold.”
Arranged sometimes in a single line, though more frequently
in two or three lines running parallel or obliquely to each
other, they seem to the voyager on the ocean but one continu¬
ous chain ; while the huge volcanoes, which to the inhabitants
of the table-land look like solitary and independent masses,
appear to him only like so many peaks of the same vast and
magnificent range. So immense is the scale on which Nature
works in these regions, that it is only when viewed from a great
distance, that the spectator can in any degree comprehend the
relation of the several parts to the stupendous whole. Few of
the works of Nature, indeed, are calculated to produce impres¬
sions of higher sublimity than the aspect of this coast as it is
gradually unfolded to the eye of the mariner sailing on the
distant waters of the Pacific ; where mountain is seen to rise
above mountain, and Chimborazo, with its glorious canopy of
snow, glittering far above the clouds, crowns the whole as with
a celestial diadem.4

1 Sarmiento, Relation, MS., cap. Ixv. — Cieza de Leon, Cronica del
Peru, (Anvers, I554>) cap. xli. — Garcilasso de la Vega, Commentarios
Reales, (Lisboa, 1609,) parte i. lib. i. cap. viii. According to the last
authority, the empire, in its greatest breadth, did not exceed one hundred
and twenty leagues. But Garcilasso’s geography will not bear criticism.

2 According to Malte-Brun, it is under the equator that we meet with
the loftiest summits of this chain. (Universal Geography, Eng. trans.,
book lxxxvi. ) But more recent measurements have shown this to be
between fifteen and seventeen degrees south, where the Nevado de Sorata
rises to the enormous height of 25,250 feet, and the Illimani to 24,300.

3 At least, the word anta , which has been thought to furnish the
etymology of Andes , in the Peruvian tongue, signified “copper.” — Garci¬
lasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. v. cap. xv.

4 Humboldt, Vues des Cordilleres et Monumens des Peuples Indigenes
de I’Amerique, (Paris, 1810,) p. 106 Malte-Brun, book Ixxxviii The

Civilisation of the Incas 3

The face of the country would appear to be peculiarly
unfavourable to the purposes both of agriculture and of internal
communication. The sandy strip along the coast, where rain
rarely falls, is fed only by a few scanty streams, that furnish a
remarkable contrast to the vast volumes of water which roll
down the eastern sides of the Cordilleras into the Atlantic.
The precipitous steps of the sierra, with its splintered sides of
porphyry and granite, and its higher regions wrapped in snows
that never melt under the fierce sun of the equator, unless it
be from the desolating action of its own volcanic fires, might
seem equally unpropitious to the labours of the husbandman.
And all communication between the parts of the long-
extended territory might be thought to be precluded by the
savage character of the region, broken up by precipices,
furious torrents, and impassable quebradas , — those hideous
rents in the mountain chain, whose depths the eye of the
terrified traveller, as he winds along his aerial pathway, vainly
endeavours to fathom.1 Yet the industry, we might almost
say the genius, of the Indians was sufficient to overcome all
these impediments of nature.

By a judicious system of canals and subterraneous aqueducts,
the waste places on the coast were refreshed by copious streams,
that clothed them in fertility and beauty. Terraces were raised
upon the steep sides of the Cordillera; and, as the different
elevations had the effect of difference of latitude, they exhibited
in regular gradation every variety of vegetable form, from the
stimulated growth of the tropics to the temperate products of
a northern clime ; while flocks of llamas — the Peruvian sheep
— wandered with their shepherds over the broad snow-covered
wastes on the crests of the sierra, which rose beyond the limits
of cultivation. An industrious population settled along the
lofty regions of the plateaus ; and towns and hamlets, clustering
amidst orchards and wide-spreading gardens, seemed suspended
in the air, far above the ordinary elevation of the clouds.2

few brief sketches which M. de Humboldt has given of the scenery of the
Cordilleras, showing the hand of a great painter, as well as of a philosopher,
make us regret the more, that he has not given the results of his observa¬
tions in this interesting region as minutely as he has done in respect to
Mexico.

1 “These crevices are so deep,” says M. de Humboldt, with his usual
vivacity of illustration, “that if Vesuvius or the Puy de Dome were seated
in the bottom of them, they would not rise above the level of the ridges of
the neighbouring sierra.” — Vues des Cordilleres, p. 9.

2 The plains of Quito are at the height of between nine and ten thousand
feet above the sea. Other valleys or plateaus in this vast group of
mountains reach a still higher elevation.

4 Conquest of Peru

Intercourse was maintained between these numerous settle¬
ments by means of the great roads which traversed the moun¬
tain passes, and opened an easy communication between the
capital and the remotest extremities of the empire.

The source of this civilisation is traced to the valley of
Cuzco, the central region of Peru, as its name implies.1 The
origin of the Peruvian empire, like the origin of all nations,
except the very few which, like our own, have had the good
fortune to date from a civilised period and people, is lost in
the mists of fable, which, in fact, have settled as darkly round
its history as round that of any nation, ancient or modern, in
the Old World. According to the tradition most familiar to
the European scholar, the time was, when the ancient races of
the continent were all plunged in deplorable barbarism ; when
they worshipped nearly every object in nature indiscriminately ;
made war their pastime, and feasted on the flesh of their
slaughtered captives. The Sun, the great luminary and parent
of mankind, taking compassion on their degraded condition,
sent two of his children, Manco Capac and Mama Oello
Huaco, to gather the natives into communities, and teach
them the arts of civilised life. The celestial pair, brother and
sister, husband and wife, advanced along the high plains in
the neighbourhood of Lake Titicaca, to about the sixteenth
degree south. They bore with them a golden wedge, and
were directed to take up their residence on the spot where
the sacred emblem should without effort sink into the ground.
They proceeded accordingly but a short distance, as far as the
valley of Cuzco, the spot indicated by the performance of the
miracle, since there the wedge speedily sank into the earth and
disappeared for ever. Here the children of the Sun established
their residence, and soon entered upon their beneficent mission
among the rude inhabitants of the country; Manco Capac
teaching the men the arts of agriculture, and Mama Oello 2

1 “ Cuzco, in the language of the Incas,” says Garcilasso, “signifies
nave?.” — Com. Real., parte i. lib. i. cap. xviii.

2 Mama , with the Peruvians, signified “mother.” The identity of this
term with that used by Europeans, is a curious coincidence. It is scarcely
less so, however, than that of the corresponding word, papa , which with
the ancient Mexicans, denoted a priest of high rank ; reminding us of the
papa , “pope” of the Italians. With both, the term seems to embrace in
its most comprehensive sense the paternal relation, in which it is more
familiarly employed by most of the nations of Europe. Nor was the use
of it limited to modern times, being applied in the same way both by
Greeks and Romans. “ Yliirna <juAe,” says Nausikaa, addressing her
father in the simple language which the modern versifiers have thought too
simple to render literally.

Civilisation of the Incas

initiating her own sex in the mysteries of weaving and spinning.
The simple people lent a willing ear to the messengers of
Heaven, and, gathering together in considerable numbers, laid
the foundations of the city of Cuzco. The same wise and
benevolent maxims, which regulated the conduct of the first
Incas,1 descended to their successors, and under their mild
sceptre a community gradually extended itself along the surface
of the broad table-land, which asserted its superiority over the
surrounding tribes. Such is the pleasing picture of the origin
of the Peruvian monarchy, as portrayed by Garcilasso de la
Vega, the descendant of the Incas, and through him made
familiar to the European reader.2

But this tradition is only one of several current among the
Peruvian Indians, and probably not the one most generally
received. Another legend speaks of certain white and bearded
men, who, advancing from the shores of Lake Titicaca, estab¬
lished an ascendancy over the natives, and imparted to them
the blessings of civilisation. It may remind us of the tradition
existing among the Aztecs in respect to Quetzalcoatl, the good
deity, who with a similar garb and aspect came up the great
plateau from the east on a like benevolent mission to the
natives. The analogy is the more remarkable, as there is no
trace of any communication with, or even knowledge of, each
other to be found in the two nations.3

The date usually assigned for these extraordinary events was
about four hundred years before the coming of the Spaniards,
or early in the twelfth century.4 But, however pleasing to the

1 Inca signified king or lord. Capac meant great or poiuerful. It was
applied to several of the successors of Manco, in the same manner as the
epithet Yupanqui , signifying rich in all virtues , was added to the names
of several Incas. The good qualities commemorated by the cognomens of
most of the Peruvian princes afford an honourable, though not altogether
unsuspicious, tribute to the excellence of their characters.

2 Com. Real., parte i. lib. i. cap. ix. — xvi.

8 These several traditions, all of a very puerile character, are to be found
in Ondegardo, Relacion Segunda, MS. ; Sarmiento, Relacion, MS., cap. i. ;
Cieza de Leon, Cronica, cap. cv. ; — Conquista i Poblacion del Piru, MS.
Declaracion de los Presidentes e Oydores de la Audiencia Reale del Peru,
MS. ; — all of them authorities contemporary with the Conquest. The
story of the bearded white men finds its place in most of their legends.

4 Some writers carry back the date 500, or even 550, years before the
Spanish invasion. (Balboa, Histoire du Perou, chap. 1. — Velasco, Histoire
du Royaume de Quito, tom. i. p. 81. — Ambo auct. ap. Relations et
Memoires originaux pour servir a T Histoire de la Decouverte de l’Amerique,
par Ternaux-Compans. (Paris, 1840.) In the Report of the Royal
Audience of Peru, the epoch is more modestly fixed at 200 years before
the Conquest. Dec. de la Aud. Real., MS.

Conquest of Peru

imagination, and however popular, the legend of Manco Capac,
it requires but little reflection to show its improbability, even
when divested of supernatural accompaniments. On the shores
of Lake Titicaca extensive ruins exist at the present day, which
the Peruvians themselves acknowledge to be of older date than
the pretended advent of the Incas, and to have furnished them
with the models of their architecture.1 The date of their
appearance, indeed, is manifestly irreconcilable with their
subsequent history. No account assigns to the Inca dynasty
more than thirteen princes before the Conquest. But this
number is altogether too small to have spread over four
hundred years, and would not carry back the foundations of
the monarchy, on any probable computation, beyond two
centuries and a half, — an antiquity not incredible in itself,
and which, it may be remarked, does not precede by more
than half a century the alleged foundation of the capital of
Mexico. The fiction of Manco Capac and his sister-wife was
devised, no doubt, at a later period, to gratify the vanity of
the Peruvian monarchs, and to give additional sanction to
their authority by deriving it from a celestial origin.

We may reasonably conclude that there existed in the
country a race advanced in civilisation before the time of the
Incas ; and in conformity with nearly every tradition, we may
derive this race from the neighbourhood of Lake Titicaca ; 2 a

1 “ Otras cosas ay mas que dezir deste Tiaguanaco, que passo por no
detenerme : concluyedo que yo para mi tengo esta antigualla por la mas
antigua de todo el Peru. Y assi se tiene que antes ^ los Ingas reynassen
con muchos tiempos estavan hechos algunos edificios destos : porque yo he
oydo afirmar a Indios, que los Ingas hizieron los edificios grandes del
Cuzco por la forma que vieron tener la muralla o pared que se vee en este
pueblo.” (Cieza de Leon, Cronica, cap. cv.) See also Garcilasso, (Com.
Real., parte i. lib. iii. cap. i. ) who gives an account of these remains, on
the authority of a Spanish ecclesiastic, which might compare, for the
marvellous, with any of the legends of his order. Other ruins of similar
traditional antiquity are noticed by Herrera, (Historia General de los
Hechos de los Castellanos en las Islas y Tierra Firme del Mar Oceano,
[Madrid, 1 730,] dec. vi. lib. vi. cap. ix. ) M'Cuiloch, in some sensible
reflections on the origin of the Peruvian civilisation, adduces, on the
authority of Garcilasso de la Vega, the famous temple of Pachacamac, not
far from Lima, as an example of architecture more ancient than that of
the Incas. (Researches, Philosophical and Antiquarian, concerning the
Aboriginal History of America, [Baltimore, 1829,] p. 405.) This, if true,
would do much to confirm the views in our text. But M'Culloch is led
into an error by his blind guide, Rycaut, the translator of Garcilasso, for
the latter does not speak of the temple as existing before the time of the
Incas, but before the time when the country was conquered by the Incas. —
Com. Real., parte i. lib. vi. cap. xxx.

2 Among other authorities for this tradition, see Sarmiento, Relacion,

Civilisation of the Incas 7

conclusion strongly confirmed by the imposing architectural
remains which still endure, after the lapse of so many years,
on its borders. Who this race were, and whence they came,
may afford a tempting theme for inquiry to the speculative
antiquarian. But it is a land of darkness that lies far beyond
the domain of history.1

The same mists that hang around the origin of the Incas
continue to settle on their subsequent annals ; and, so imper¬
fect were the records employed by the Peruvians, and so
contused and contradictory their traditions, that the historian
finds no firm footing on which to stand till within a century of
the Spanish conquest.2 At first, the progress of the Peruvians
seems to have been slow, and almost imperceptible. By their
wise and temperate policy, they gradually won over the neigh¬
bouring tribes to their dominion, as these latter became more

MS., cap. iii. iv. ; — Herrera, Hist. General, dec. v. lib. iii. cap. vi. ; —
Conq. i Pob. del Piru MS. ; Zarate, Historia del Descubrimiento y de la
Conquista del Peru, lib. i. cap. x. ap. Barcia, Historiadores Primitivos de
las Indias Occidentales, (Madrid), 1749,) tom. iii. In most, not all of the
traditions, Manco Capac is recognised as the name of the founder of the
Peruvian monarchy, though his history and character are related with
sufficient discrepancy.

J Mr. Ranking,

“Who can deep mysteries unriddle
As easily as thread a needle,”

finds it “ highly probable that the first Inca of Peru was a son of the Grand
Khan Kublai !” (Historical Researches on the Conquest of Peru, &c., by
the Moguls, [London, 1827,] p. 170). The coincidences are curious,
though we shall hardly jump at the conclusion of the adventurous author.
Every scholar will agree with Humboldt, in the wish that “some learned
traveller would visit the borders of the lake of Titicaca, the district of
Callao, and the high plains of Tiahuanaco, the theatre of the ancient
American civilisation. (Vues des Cordilleres, p. 199.) And yet the archi¬
tectural monuments of the aborigines, hitherto brought to light, have
furnished few materials for a bridge of communication across the dark gulf
that still separates the Old World from the New.

2 A good deal within a century, to say truth. Garcilasso and Sarmiento,
for example, the two ancient authorities in highest repute, have scarcely a
point of contact in their accounts of the earlier Peruvian princes ; the
former representing the sceptre as gliding down in peaceful succession from
hand to hand, through an unbroken dynasty, while the latter garnishes his
tale with as many conspiracies, depositions, and revolutions, as belong to
most barbarous, and, unhappily, most civilised communities. When to
these two are added the various writers, contemporary and of the succeeding
age, who have treated of the Peruvian annals, we shall find ourselves in
such a conflict of traditions, that criticism is lost in conjecture. Vet this
uncertainty as to historical events fortunately does not extend to the
history of arts and institutions, which were in existence on the arrival of the
Spaniards.

8 Conquest of Peru

and more convinced of the benefits of a just and well regulated
government. As they grew stronger, they were enabled to
rely more directly on force ; but, still advancing under cover
of the same beneficent pretexts employed by their predecessors,
they proclaimed peace and civilisation at the point of the
sword. The rude nations of the country, without any principle
of cohesion among themselves, fell one after another before
the victorious arm of the Incas. Yet it was not till the middle
of the fifteenth century, that the famous Topa Inca Yupanqui,
grandfather of the monarch who occupied the throne at the
coming of the Spaniards, led his armies across the terrible
desert of Atacama, and, penetrating to the southern region of
Chili, fixed the permanent boundary of his dominions at the
river Maule. His son, Huayna Capac, possessed of ambition
and military talent fully equal to his father’s, marched along
the Cordillera towards the north, and pushing his conquests
across the equator, added the powerful kingdom of Quito to
the empire of Peru.1

The ancient city of Cuzco, meanwhile, had been gradually
advancing in wealth and population, till it had become the
worthy metropolis of a great and flourishing monarchy. It
stood in a beautiful valley on an elevated region of the plateau,
which, among the Alps, would have been buried in eternal
snowrs, but which within the tropics enjoyed a genial and
salubrious temperature. Towards the north it was defended
by a lofty eminence, a spur of the great Cordillera ; and the
city was traversed by a river, or rather a small stream, over
which bridges of timber, covered with heavy slabs of stone,
furnished an easy means of communication with the opposite
banks. The streets were long and narrow ; the houses low,
and those of the poorer sort built of clay and reeds. But
Cuzco was the royal residence, and was adorned with the
ample dwellings of the great nobility; and the massy fragments
still incorporated in many of the modern edifices bear testimony
to the size and solidity of the ancient.2

1 Sarmiento, Relacion, MS., cap. lvii. lxiv. — Conq. i Pob. del Pirn,
MS.— Velasco, Hist, de Quito, p. 59. — Dec. de la Aud. Real., MS. —
Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. vii. cap. xviii. xix. ; lib. viii. cap. v.
viii. The last historian, and, indeed, some others, refer the conquest of
Chili to Yupanqui, the father of Topa Inca. The exploits of the two
monarchs are so blended together by the different annalists, as in a manner
to confound their personal identity.

2 Garcilasso, Com. Real., lib. vii. cap. viii. xi.— Cieza de Leon*
Cronica, cap. xcii. “ El Cuzco tuuo gran manera y calidad, deuio ser
undada por gente de gran ser. Auia grandes calles, saluo q era angostas,

Civilisation of the Incas 9

The health of the city was promoted by spacious openings
and squares, in which a numerous population from the capital
and the distant country assembled to celebrate the high
festivals of their religion. For Cuzco was the “ Holy City”;1
and the great Temple of the Sun, to which pilgrims resorted
from the furthest borders of the empire, was the most magnifi¬
cent structure in the New World, and unsurpassed, probably,
in the costliness of its decorations by any building in the
Old.

Towards the north, on the sierra or rugged eminence
already noticed, rose a strong fortress, the remains of which, at
the present day, by their vast size, excite the admiration of the
traveller.2 It was defended by a single wall of great thickness,
and twelve hundred feet long on the side facing the city, where
the precipitous character of the ground was of itself almost
sufficient for its defence. On the other quarter, where the
approaches were less difficult, it was protected by two other
semicircular walls of the same length as the preceding. They
were separated, a considerable distance from one another and
from the fortress ; and the intervening ground was raised so
that the walls afforded a breastwork for the troops stationed
there in times of assault. The fortress consisted of three
towers detached from one another. One was appropriated to
the Inca, and was garnished with the sumptuous decorations
befitting a royal residence, rather than a military post. The
other two were held by the garrison, drawn from the Peruvian
nobles, and commanded by an officer of the blood royal, for
the position was of too great importance to be intrusted to
inferior hands. The hill was excavated below the towers, and

y las casas hechas de piedra pura co tan lindas junturas, q illustra el
antiguedad del edifici®, pues estauan piedras tan grades muy bien assenta-
das.” iffbid, ubi supra.) Compare with this Miller’s account of the city,
as existing at the present day. “The walls of many of the houses have
remained unaltered for centuries. The great size of the stones, the variety
of their shapes, and the inimitable workmanship they display, give to the
city that interesting air of antiquity and romance, which fills the mind with
pleasing though painful veneration.” — Memoirs of Gen. Miller in the Service
of the Republic of Peru, (London, 1829, 2d. ed.,) vol. ii. p. 225.

1 “ La imperial ciudad de Cozco, que la adoravan los Indios, conio d
Cosa Sagrada.” — Garcilacso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. iii. cap. xx. — Also
Ondegardo, Rel. Seg. , MS.

2 See, among others, the Memoirs, above cited, of Gen. Miller, which
contain a minute and very interesting notice of modern Cuzco, (vol. ii. p.
223 et Mcq. ). Ulloa, who visited the country in the middle of the last
century, is unbounded in his expressions of admiration. — Voyage to South
America, Eng. trans. , (London, 1806,) book vii. ch. xii.

io Conquest of Peru

several subterranean galleries communicated with the city and
the palaces of the Inca.1

The fortress, the walls, and the galleries were all built of
stone, the heavy blocks of which were not laid in regular
courses, but so disposed that the small ones might fill up the
interstices between the great. They formed a sort of rustic-
work, being rough-hewn except towards the edges, which were
finely wrought; and, though no cement was used, the several
blocks were adjusted with so much exactness and united so
closely, that it was impossible to introduce even the blade of a
knife between them.2 3 Many of these stones were of vast size :
some of them being full thirty-eight feet long by eighteen
broad, and six feet thick.8

We are filled with astonishment when we consider that these
enormous masses were hewn from their native bed and
fashioned into shape by a people ignorant of the use of iron ;
that they were brought from quarries from four to fifteen
leagues distant,4 without the aid of beasts of burden, were
transported across rivers and ravines, raised to their elevated
position on the sierra, and finally adjusted there with the
nicest accuracy, without the knowledge of tools and machinery
familiar to the European. Twenty thousand men are said to
have been employed on this great structure, and fifty years
consumed in the building.5 6 * However this may be, we see in

1 Betanzos, Suma y Narracion de los Yngas, MS., cap. xii. — Garcilasso,
Com. Real., parte i. lib. vii. cap. xxvii. — xxix. The demolition of the
fortress, begun immediately after the Conquest, provoked the remonstrance
of more than one enlightened Spaniard, whose voice, however, was
impotent against the spirit of cupidity and violence. — See Sarmiento,
Relacion, MS., cap. xlviii.

2 Ibid, ubi supra. — Inscripciones, Medallas, Templos, Edificios, Antigue-
dades, y Monumentos del Peru, MS. This manuscript, which formerly
belonged to Dr. Robertson, and which is now in the British Museum, is
the work of some unknown author, somewhere probably about the time of
Charles III. ; a period when, as the sagacious scholar to whom I am
indebted for a copy of it remarks, a spirit of sounder criticism was visible
in the Castilian historians.

3 Acosta, Naturall and Morall Historic of the East and West Indies,
Eng. trans. , (London, 1604,) lib. vi. cap. xiv. He measured the stones
himself. — See also Garcilasso, Com. Real., loc. cit.

4 Cieza de Leon, Cronica, cap. xciii. — Ondegardo, Rel. Seg. , MS.

Many hundred blocks of granite may still be seen, it is said, in an unfinished
state, in the quarry near Cuzco.

6 Sarmiento, Relacion, MS., cap. xlviii. — Ondegardo, Rel. Seg., MS. —
Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. vii. cap. xxvii. xxviii. The Spaniards,

puzzled by the execution of so great a work with such apparently in¬
adequate means, referred it all, in their summary way, to the Devil ; an

opinion which Garcilasso seems willing to indorse. The author of the

Civilisation of the Incas u

it the workings of a despotism which had the lives and fortunes
of its vassals at its absolute disposal, and which, however mild
in its general character, esteemed these vassals, when employed
in its service, as lightly as the brute animals for which they
served as a substitute.

The fortress of Cuzco was but part of a system of fortifi¬
cations established throughout their dominions by the Incas.
This system formed a prominent feature in their military
policy ; but, before entering on this latter, it will be proper to
give the reader some view of their civil institution and scheme
of government.

The sceptre of the Incas, if we may credit their historian,
descended in unbroken succession from father to son through
their whole dynasty. Whatever we may think of this, it
appears probable that the right of inheritance might be claimed
by the eldest son of the Coya, or lawful queen, as she was
styled, to distinguish her from the host of concubines who
shared the affections of the sovereign.1 The queen was further
distinguished, at least in later reigns, by the circumstance of
being selected from the sisters of the Inca, an arrangement
which, however revolting to the ideas of civilised nations, was
recommended to the Peruvians by its securing an heir to the
crown of the pure heaven-born race, uncontaminated by any
mixture of earthly mould.2

In his early years, the royal offspring was intrusted to the
care of the amautas , or “ wise men,” as the teachers of Peru¬
vian science were called, who instructed him in such elements
of knowledge as they possessed, and especially in the cumbrous
ceremonial of their religion, in which he was to take a
prominent part. Great care was also bestowed on his military
education, of the last importance in a state which, with its
professions of peace and good-will, was ever at war for the
acquisition of empire.

Antig. y Monumentos del Peru, MS., rejects this notion with becoming
gravity.

1 Sarmiento, Relacion, MS., cap. vii. — Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i.
lib. i. cap. xxvi. Acosta speaks of the eldest brother of the Inca as
succeeding in preference to the son. (Lib. vi. cap. xii.) He may have
confounded the Peruvian with the Aztec usage. The Report of the Royal
Audience states that a brother succeeded in default of a son. — Dec. de la
Aud. Real., MS.

2 “ Et soror et conjux .” — According to Garcilasso, the heir-apparent
always married a sister. (Com. Real., parte i. lib. iv. cap. ix. ) Onde-
gardo notices this as an innovation at the close of the fifteenth century.
(Relacion Primera, MS.) The historian of the Incas, however, is con¬
firmed in his extraordinary statement by Sarmiento, Relacion, MS., cap. vii.

Conquest of Peru

In this military school he was educated with such of the
Inca nobles as were nearly of his own age ; for the sacred name
of Inca — a fruitful source of obscurity in their annals — was
applied indifferently to all who descended by the male line
from the founder of the monarchy.1 At the age of sixteen the
pupils underwent a public examination, previous to their
admission to what may be called the order of chivalry. This
examination was conducted by some of the oldest and most
illustrious Incas. The candidates were required to show their
prowess in the athletic exercises of the warrior ; in wrestling
and boxing, in running such long courses as fully tried their
agility and strength, in severe fasts of several days’ duration,
and in mimic combats, which, although the weapons were
blunted, were always attended with wounds, and sometimes
with death. During this trial, which lasted thirty days, the
royal neophyte fared no better than his comrades, sleeping on
the bare ground, going unshod, and wearing a mean attire, — a
mode of life, it was supposed, which might tend to inspire him
with more sympathy with the destitute. With all this show of
impartiality, however, it will probably be doing no injustice to
the judges to suppose that a politic discretion may have
somewhat quickened their perceptions of the real merits of the
heir-apparent.

At the end of the appointed time, the candidates selected
as worthy of the honours of their barbaric chivalry were
presented to the sovereign, who condescended to take a
principal part in the ceremony of inauguration. He began
with a brief discourse, in which, after congratulating the young
aspirants on the proficiency they had shown in martial exercises,
he reminded them of the responsibilities attached to their
birth and station ; and, addressing them affectionately as
“children of the Sun,” he exhorted them to imitate their great
progenitor in his glorious career of beneficence to mankind.
The novices then drew near, and kneeling one by one before
the Inca, he pierced their ears with a golden bodkin ; and this
was suffered to remain there till an opening had been made
large enough for the enormous pendants which were peculiar
to their order, and which gave them, with the Spaniards, the
name of orejones .2 This ornament was so massy in the ears of

1 Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. i. cap. xxvi.

2 From oreja, “ear.” — “Los Caballeros de la sangre real tenian orejas
horadadas, y de ellas colgando grandes rodetes de plata y oro : llamaronles
por esto los orejones los Castellanos la primera vez q ie los vieron.”
(Montesinos, Memorias, antiguas historiales del Peru, MS., lib. ii. cap. vi.)

Civilisation of the Incas

the sovereign, that the cartilage was distended by it nearly to
the shoulder, producing what seemed a monstrous deformity in
the eyes of the Europeans, though, under the magical influence
of fashion, it was regarded as a beauty by the natives.

When this operation was performed, one of the most
venerable of the nobles dressed the feet of the candidates in
the sandals worn by the order, which may remind us of the
ceremony of buckling on the spurs of the Christian knight.
They were then allowed to assume the girdle or sash around the
loins, corresponding with the toga virilis of the Romans, and
intimating that they had reached the season of manhood.
Their heads were adorned with garlands of flowers, which, by
their various colours, were emblematic of the clemency and
goodness that should grace the character of every true warrior ;
and the leaves of an evergreen plant were mingled with the
flowers, to show that these virtues should endure without end.1
The prince’s head was further ornamented by a fillet, or
tasselled fringe, of a yellow colour, made of the fine threads of
the vicuna wool, which encircled the forehead as the peculiar
insignia of the heir-apparent. The great body of the Inca
nobility next made their appearance, and beginning with those
nearest of kin, knelt down before the prince, and did him
homage as successor to the crown. The whole assembly then
moved to the great square of the capital, where songs and
dances, and other public festivities closed the important
ceremonial of the huaracu .2

The reader will be less surprised by the resemblance which
this ceremonial bears to the inauguration of a Christian knight
in the feudal ages, if he reflects that a similar analogy may be
traced in the institutions of other people more or less civilised ;
and that it is natural that nations occupied with the one great
business of war, should mark the period, when the preparatory
education for it was ended, by similar characteristic ceremonies.

The ornament, which was in the form of a wheel, did not depend from the
ear, but was inserted in the gristle of it, and was as large as an orange !
“La hacen lan ancha como una gran rosea de naranja ; los senores i
principales traian aquellas roscas de oro fino en las orejas.” (Conq. i Fob.
del Piru, MS. — Also Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. i. cap. xxii.)
“The larger the hole,” says one of the old Conquerors, “the more of a
gentleman !” — Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., MS.

1 Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. vi. cap. xxvii.

2 Ibid., parte i. lib. vi. cap. xxiv — xxviii. According to Fernandez the
candidates wore white shirts, with something like a cross embroidered in
front! (Historia del Peru, [Sevilla, 1571,] parte ii. lib. iii. cap. vi. ) We
may fancy ourselves occupied with some chivalrous ceremonial of the Middle
Ages.

14 Conquest of Peru

Having thus honourably passed through his ordeal, the heir-
apparent was deemed worthy to sit in the councils of his father,
and was employed in offices of trust at home, or more usually
sent on distant expeditions to practice in the field the lessons
which he had hitherto studied only on the mimic theatre of war.
His first campaigns were conducted under the renowned
commanders who had grown grey in the service of his father;
until, advancing in years and experience, he was placed in
command himself, and, like Huayna Capac, the last and most
illustrious of his line, carried the banner of the rainbow, the
armorial ensign of his house, far over the borders, among the
remotest tribes of the plateau.

The government of Peru was a despotism, mild in its
character, but in its form a pure and unmitigated despotism.
The sovereign was placed at an immeasurable distance above
his subjects. Even the proudest of the Inca nobility, claiming
a descent from the same divine original as himself, could not
venture into the royal presence, unless barefoot, and bearing a
light burden on his shoulders in token of homage.1 As the
representative of the sun, he stood at the head of the priesthood,
and presided at the most important of the religious festivals.2
He raised armies and usually commanded them in person.
He imposed taxes, made laws, and provided for their execution
by the appointment of judges, whom he removed at pleasure.
He was the source from which everything flowed, —all dignity,
all power, all emolument. He was, in short, in the well-known
phrase of the European despot, “ himself the state.” 3

1 Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. i. cap. xi. — Sarmiento, Relacion, MS.,
cap. vii. “ Porque verdaderamente a lo que yo he averiguado toda la
pretension de los Ingas fue una subjeccion en toda la gente. qual yo nunca
he oido decir de ninguna otra nacion en tanto grado, que por muy principal
que an senor fuese, dende que entrava cerca del Cuzco en cierta senal que
estava puesta en cada camino de quatro que hay, havia dende alii de venir
cargado hasta la presencia del Inga, y alii dejava la carga y hacia su
obediencia.” — Ondegardo, Rel. Prim., MS.

2 It was only at one of these festivals, and hardly authorises the sweeping
assertion of Carli, that the royal and sacerdotal authority were blended
together in Peru. We shall see, hereafter, the important and independent
position occupied by the high-priest. “ Le sacerdoce et l’empire etoient
divises au Mexique ; au lieu qu’ils 6toient reunis au Perou, comme au
Tibet et 4 la Chine, et comme il le fut a Rome, lorsqu’ Auguste jetta les
fondemens de 1’empire, en y reunissant le sacerdoce ou la dignite de
Souverain Pontife.” — Lettres Americaines, (Paris, 1788,) trad. Franf.
tom. i. let. vii.

3 “ Porque el Inga dava a entender que era hijo del Sol, con este titulo se
hacia adorar, i governava principalmente en tanto grado que nadie se le
atrevia ; i su palabra era ley, i nadie osaba ir contra su palabra ni voluntad :

Civilisation of the Incas 15

The Inca asserted his claims as a superior being by assuming
a pomp in his manner of living well calculated to impose on his
people. His dress was of the finest wool of the vicuna, richly
dyed, and ornamented with a profusion of gold and precious
stones. Round his head was wreathed a turban of many-coloured
folds, called the llautu ; and a tasselled fringe, like that worn by
the prince, but of a scarlet colour, with two feathers of a rare and
curious bird, called the coraquenque , placed upright in it, were
the distinguishing insignia of royalty. The birds from which
these feathers were obtained were found in a desert country
among the mountains ; and it was death to destroy or to take
them, as they were reserved for the exclusive purpose of
supplying the royal head-gear. Every succeeding monarch
was provided with a new pair of these plumes, and his credu¬
lous subjects fondly believed that only two individuals of the
species had ever existed to furnish the simple ornament for the
diadem of the Incas.1

Although the Peruvian monarch was raised so far above the
highest of his subjects, he condescended to mingle occasionally
with them, and took great pains personally to inspect the
condition of the humbler classes. He presided at some of the
religious celebrations, and on these occasions entertained the
great nobles at his table, when he complimented them after
the fashion of more civilised nations, by drinking the health of
those whom he most delighted to honour.2

But the most effectual means taken by the Incas for com¬
municating with their people, were their progresses through the
empire. These were conducted, at intervals of several years,
with great state and magnificence. The sedan, or litter in
which they travelled, richly emblazoned with gold and emeralds,
was guarded by a numerous escort. The men who bore
it on their shoulders were provided by two cities, specially

aunque obiese de mafar cient mill Indios, no havia ninguno en su reino que
le osase decir que no lo hiciese.” — Conq. i Pob. del Piru, MS.

1 Cieza de Leon, Cronica, cap. cxiv. — Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i
lib. i. cap. xxii. ; lib. vi. cap. xxviii — Acosta, lib. vi. cap. xii.

2 One would hardly expect to find among the American Indians this
social and kindly custom of our Saxon ancestors, — now fallen somewhat
out of use, in the capricious innovations of modern fashion. Garcilasso is
diffuse in his account of the forms observed at the royal table. (Com.
Real., parte i. lib. vi. cap. xxiii.) The only hours of eating were at eight
or nine in the morning, and at sunset, which took place at nearly the same
time in all seasons in the latitude of Cuzco. The historian of the Incas
admits that though temperate in eating, they indulged freely in their cups,
frequently prolonging their revelry to a late hour of the night. — Ibid.,
parte i. lib. vi. cap. L

16 Conquest of Peru

appointed for the purpose. It was a post to be coveted by no
one, if, as is asserted, a fall was punished with death.1 They
travelled with ease and expedition, halting at the tambos , or
inns, erected by government along the route, and occasionally
at the royal palaces, which in the great towns afforded ample
accommodations to the whole of the monarch’s retinue. The
noble roads which traversed the table-land were lined with
people, who swept away the stones and stubble from their
surface, strewing them with sweet-scented flowers, and vying
with each other in carrying forward the baggage from one
village to another. The monarch halted from time to time to
listen to the grievances of his subjects, or to settle some points
which had been referred to his decision by the regular tribunals.
As the princely train wound its way along the mountain passes,
every place was thronged with spectators eager to catch a
glimpse of their sovereign ; and, when he raised the curtains of
his litter, and showed himself to their eyes, the air was rent
with acclamations as they invoked blessings on his head.55
Tradition long commemorated the spots at which he halted,
and the simple people of the country held them in reverence
as places consecrated by the presence of an Inca.3

The royal palaces were on a magnificent scale, and, far from
being confined to the capital or a few principal towns, were
scattered over all the provinces of their vast empire.4 The
buildings were low, but covered a wide extent of ground.
Some of the apartments were spacious, but they were generally

1 “ In lectica, aureo tabulato constrata, humeris ferebant ; in summa,
ea erat observantia, vt vultum ejusintueri maxime incivile putarent, et inter
baiulos, quicunque vel leviter pede offenso hresitaret, e vestigio interficerent. ”
— Levinus Apollonius, De Peruviae Regionis Inventione, et Rebus in e&dem
gestis, (Antverpise, 15 67,) fol. 37. — Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. i. cap. xi.
According to this writer, the litter was carried by the nobles ; one thousand
ol whom were specially reserved for the humiliating honour. Ubi supra.

2 The acclamations must have been potent indeed, if, as Sarmiento telis

us, they sometimes brought the birds down from the sky ! “ De esta

manera eran tan temidos los reyes ; que si salian por el reyno y permitian
alzar algun pano de los que iban en las andas para dejarse ver de sus vasallos,
alzaban tan gran alarido que hacian caer las aves de lo alto, donde iban
volando a ser tomadas a manos.” (Relacion, MS. cap. x.) The same
author has given in another place a more credible account of the royal
progresses, which the Spanish reader will find extracted in Appendix ,
No I.

3 Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. iii. cap. xiv. ; lib. vi. cap. iii. —
Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. i. cap. xi.

4 Velasco has given some account of several of these palaces situate in
different places in the kingdom of Quito. — Hist, de Quito, tom. i. pp

195-197-

Civilisation of the Incas 17

small, and had no communication with one another, except
that they opened into a common square or court. The walls
were made of blocks of stone of various sizes, like those
described in the fortress of Cuzco, rough-hewn, but carefully
wrought near the line of junction, which was scarcely visible to
the eye. The roofs were of wood or rushes, which have
perished under the rude touch of time, that has shown more
respect for the walls of the edifices. The whole seems to have
been characterised by solidity and strength, rather than by any
attempt at architectural elegance.1

But whatever want of elegance there may have been in the
exterior of the imperial dwellings, it was amply compensated by
the interior, in which all the opulence of the Peruvian princes
was ostentatiously displayed. The sides of the apartments
were thickly studded with gold and silver ornaments. Niches,
prepared in the walls, were filled with images of animals and
plants curiously wrought of the same costly materials ; and
even much of the domestic furniture, including the utensils
devoted to the most ordinary menial services, displayed the
like wanton magnificence ! 2 With these gorgeous decorations
were mingled richly coloured stuffs of the delicate manufacture
of the Peruvian wool, which were of so beautiful a texture, that
the Spanish sovereigns, with all the luxuries of Europe and
Asia at their command, did not disdain to use them.3 The
royal household consisted of a throng of menials, supplied by
the neighbouring towns and villages, which, as in Mexico, were
bound to furnish the monarch with fuel and other necessaries
for the consumption of the palace.

But the favourite residence of the Incas was at Yucay, about
four leagues distance from the capital. In this delicious

1 Cieza de Leon, Croniea, cap. xliv. — Antig. y Monumentos del Peru,
MS. — See, among others, the description of the remains still existing of the
royal buildings at Gallo, about ten leagues south of Quito, by Ulloa.
(Voyage to .South America, book vi. ch. xi., and since more carefully by
Humboldt, Vues des CordiiRres, p. 197.)

2 Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. vi. cap. i. “ Tanto que todo el
servicio de la casa del rey, asi de cantaras para su vino comode cozina, todo
era oro y plata, y esto no en un lugar y en una parte lo tenia, sino en
muchas.” (Sarmiento, Re acion, MS., cap. xi.) See also the flaming
accounts of the palaces of Bilcas, to the west of Cuzco, by Cieza de Leon,
as reported to him by Spaniards who had seen them in their glory.
(Croniea, cap. 89.) The niches are still described by modern travellers as
to be found in the walls. — (Humboldt, Vues des Cordilleres, p. 197.)

8 “ La ropa de la cama toda era de mantas, y freqadas de lana de vicuna,
que es tan fina, y tan regalada, que entre otras cosas preciadas de aquellas
tierras, se las han traido para la cama del Rey Don Phelipe Segundo.”—
Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. vi. cap. i.

1 8 Conquest of Peru

valley, locked up within the friendly arms of the sierra, which
sheltered it from the rude breezes of the east, and refreshed
by gushing fountains and streams of running water, they built
the most beautiful of their palaces. Here, when wearied with
the dust and toil of the city, they loved to retreat and solace
themselves with the society of their favourite concubines,
wandering amidst groves and airy gardens, that shed around
their soft intoxicating odours, and lulled the senses to vo¬
luptuous repose. Here, too, they loved to indulge in the
luxury of their baths, replenished by streams of crystal water
which were conducted through subterraneous silver channels
into basins of gold. The spacious gardens were stocked with
numerous varieties of plants and flowers that grew without
effort in this temperate region of the tropics, while parterres of
a more extraordinary kind were planted by their side, glowing
with the various forms of vegetable life skilfully imitated in
gold and silver ! Among them the Indian corn, the most
beautiful of American grains, is particularly commemorated,
and the curious workmanship is noticed with which the golden
ear was half disclosed amidst the broad leaves of silver and the
light tassel of the same material that floated gracefully from
its top.1

If this dazzling picture staggers the faith of the reader, he
may reflect that the Peruvian mountains teemed with gold ;
that the natives understood the art of working the mines to a
considerable extent; that none of the ore, as we shall see
hereafter, was converted into coin, and that the whole of it
passed into the hands of the sovereign for his own exclusive
benefit, whether for purposes of utility or ornament. Certain
it is that no fact is better attested by the conquerors themselves,
who had ample means of information, and no motive for mis¬
statement. — The Italian poets, in their gorgeous pictures of
the gardens of Alcina and Morgana, came nearer the truth
than they imagined.

Our surprise, however, may reasonably be excited, when we
consider that the wealth displayed by the Peruvian princes
was only that which each had amassed individually for himself.
He owed nothing to inheritance from his predecessors. On

1 Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. v. cap. xxvi. lib. vi. cap. ii. —
Sarmiento, Relacion, MS., cap. xxiv. — Cieza de Leon, Cronica, cap. xciv.
The last writer speaks of a cement, made in part of liquid gold, as used in
the royal buildings of Tambo, a valley not far from Yu cay ! (Ubi supra.)
We may excuse the Spaniards for demolishing such edifices — if they ever
met with them.

Civilisation of the Incas 19

the decease of an Inca his palaces were abandoned ; all his
treasures, except what were employed in his obsequies, his
furniture and apparel, were suffered to remain as he left them,
and his mansions (save one) were closed up for ever. The
new sovereign was to provide himself with everything new for
his royal state. The reason of this was the popular belief that
the soul of the departed monarch would return after a time
to reanimate his body on earth ; and they wished that he
should find everything to which he had been used in life
prepared for his reception.1

When an Inca died, or, to use his own language, “was
called home to the mansions of his father, the Sun,”2 his
obsequies were celebrated with great pomp and solemnity.
The bowels were taken from the body and deposited in the
Temple of Tampu, about five leagues from the capital. A
quantity of his plate and jewels was buried with them, and a
number of his attendants and favourite concubines, amounting
sometimes, it is said, to a thousand, were immolated on his
tomb.3 Some of them showed the natural repugnance to the
sacrifice occasionally manifested by the victims of a similar
superstition in India. But these were probably the menials
and more humble attendants ; since the women have been
known, in more than one instance, to lay violent hands on
themselves when restrained from testifying their fidelity by this
act of conjugal martyrdom. This melancholy ceremony was
followed by a general mourning throughout the empire. At
stated intervals, for a year, the people assembled to renew the
expressions of their sorrow ; processions were made, displaying
the banner of the departed monarch; bards and minstrels
were appointed to chronicle his achievements, and their songs
continued to be rehearsed at high festivals in the presence of
the reigning monarch, — thus stimulating the living by the
glorious example of the dead.4

The body of the deceased Inca was skilfully embalmed, and

1 Acosta, lib. vi. cap. xii. — Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. vi.
cap. iv.

2 The Aztecs also believed that the soul of the warrior who fell in battle
went to accompany the Sun in his bright progress through the heavens. —
(See Conquest of Mexico, book i. chap, iii.)

3 Conq. i Pob. del Piru, MS. — Acosta, lib. v. cap. vi. Four thousand
of these victims, according to Sarmiento, — we may hope it is an exaggera¬
tion, — graced the funeral obsequies of Huayna Capac, the last of the Incas
before the coming of the Spaniards. Relacion, MS., cap. lxv.

4 Cieza de Leon, Cronica, cap. lxii. — Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i.
lib. vi. cap. v. — Sarmiento, Relacion, MS., cap. viii.

Conquest of Peru

removed to the great Temple of the Sun at Cuzco. There the
Peruvian sovereign, on entering the awful sanctuary, might
behold the effigies of his royal ancestors, ranged in opposite
files, — the men on the right, and their queens on the left, of
the great luminary which blazed in refulgent gold on the walls
of the temple. The bodies, clothed in the princely attire
which they had been accustomed to wear, were placed on
chairs of gold, and sat with their heads inclined downwards,
tneir hands placidly crossed over their bosoms, their counte¬
nances exhibiting their natural dusky hue, — less liable to change
than the fresher colouring of a European complexion, — and
their hair of raven black, or silvered over with age, according
to the period at which they died ! It seemed like a company
of solemn worshippers fixed in devotion, — so true were the forms
and lineaments to life. The Peruvians were as successful as
the Egyptians in the miserable attempt to perpetuate the exist¬
ence of the body beyond the limits assigned to it by nature.1

They cherished a still stranger illusion in the attentions which
they continued to pay to these insensible remains, as if they
were instinct with life. One of the houses belonging to a
deceased Inca was kept open and occupied by his guard and
attendants, with all the state appropriate to royalty. On certain
festivals the revered bodies of the sovereigns were brought out
with great ceremony into the public square of the capital.
Invitations were sent by the captains of the guard of the
respective Incas to the different nobles and officers of the
court ; and entertainments were provided in the names of their
masters, which displayed all the profuse magnificence of their
treasures, — and “such a display,” says an ancient chronicler,

1 Ondegardo, Rel. Prim., MS. — Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. v.
cap. xxix. The Peruvians secreted these mummies of their sovereigns
after the Conquest, that they might not be profaned by the insults of the
Spaniards. Ondegardo, when corregidor of Cuzco, discovered five of them,
three male and two female. The former were the bodies of Viracocha, of
the great Tupac Inca Yupanqui, and of his son Huayna Capac. Garcilasso
saw them in 1560. They were dressed in their regal robes, with no
insignia but the llautu on their heads. They were in a sitting posture,
and, to use his own expression, “ perfect as life, without so much as a
hair of an eyebrow wanting.” As they were carried through the streets,
decently shrouded with a mantle, the Indians threw themselves on their
knees, in sign of reverence, with many tears and groans, and were still
more touched as they beheld some of the Spaniards themselves doffing
their caps, in token of respect to departed royalty. (Ibid., ubi supra.)
The bodies were subsequently removed to Lima ; and Father Acosta, who
saw them there some twenty years later, speaks of them as still in perfect
preservation.

Civilisation of the Incas

“ was there in the great square of Cuzco on this occasion, of
gold and silver plate and jewels, as no other city in the world
ever witnessed.” 1 The banquet was served by the menials
of the respective households, and the guests partook of the
melancholy cheer in the presence of the royal phantom, with
the same attentions to the forms of courtly etiquette as if the
living monarch had presided ! 2

The nobility of Peru consisted of two orders, the first and
by far the most important of which was that of the Incas, who,
boasting a common descent with their sovereign, lived, as it
were, in the reflected light of his glory. As the Peruvian
monarchs availed themselves of the right of polygamy to a
very liberal extent, leaving behind them families of one or even
two hundred children,3 the nobles of the blood royal, though
comprehending only their descendants in the male line, came
in the course of years to be very numerous.4 They were divided
into different lineages, each of which traced its pedigree to a
different member of the royal dynasty, though all terminated
in the divine founder of the empire.

They were distinguished by many exclusive and very im¬
portant privileges ; they wore a peculiar dress ; spoke a dialect,
if we may believe the chronicler, peculiar to themselves ; 5

1 “Tenemos por muy cierto, que ni en Jerusalem, Roma, ni en Persia,
ni en ninguna parte del mundo, por ninguna repubiica ni rey de el, se
juntaba en un lugar tanta riqueza de metales de oro y plata y pedreria como
en esta Plaza del Cuzco, quandoestas fiestas y otras semejantes sehacian.” —
Sarmiento, Relacion, MS., cap. xxvii.

2 Sarmiento, Relacion, MS., cap. viii. xxvii. — Ondegardo, Rel. Seg. MS.
It was only, however, the great and good princes that were thus honoured,
according to Sarmiento, “whose souls the silly people fondly believed, on
account of their virtues, were in heaven, although in truth,” as the same
writer assures us, “they were all the time burning in the flames of hell ! ”
“ Digo los que haviendo sido en vida buenos y valerosos, generosos con los
Indios en les hacer mercedes, perdonadores de injurias, porque £L estos
tales canonizaban en su ceguedad por santos y honrraban sus huesos, sin
entender que las animas aidian en los ynfiernos, y creian que estaban en el
cielo.” — Ibid., ubi supra.

3 Garcilasso says over three hundred ! (Com. Real., parte i. lib. iii.
cap. xix. ) The fact, though rather startling, is not incredible, if, like
Huayna Capac, they counted seven hundred wives in their seraglio. — See
Sarmiento, Relacion, MS., cap. vii.

4 Garcilasso mentions a class of Incas por privilegio , who were allowed
to possess the name and many of the immunities of the blood royal, though
only descended from the great vassals that first served under the banner of
Manco Capac. Com. Real, parte i. lib. i. cap. xxii.) This important
fact, to which he often refers, one would be glad to see confirmed by a
single authority.

s “Los Incas tuvieron otra lengua particular, que hablavan entre ellos,

Conquest of Peru

and had the choicest portion of the public domain assigned
for their support. They lived, most of them, at court, near
the person of the prince, sharing in his counsels, dining at his
board, or supplied from his table. They alone were admissible
to the great offices in the priesthood. They were invested
with the command of armies and of distant garrisons, were
placed over the provinces, and, in short, filled every station of
high trust and emolument.1 Even the laws, severe in their
general tenor, seem not to have been framed with reference to
them ; and the people, investing the whole order with a
portion of the sacred character which belonged to the sovereign,
held that an Inca noble was incapable of crime.2

The other order of nobility was the Curacas , the caciques
of the conquered nations, or their descendants. They were
usually continued by the government in their places, though
they were required to visit the capital occasionally, and to
allow their sons to be educated there as the pledges of their
loyalty. It is not easy to define the nature or extent of their
privileges. They were possessed of more or less power, accord¬
ing to the extent of their patrimony and the number of their
vassals. Their authority was usually transmitted from father
to son, though sometimes the successor was chosen by the
people.3 They did not occupy the highest posts of state, or
those nearest the person of the sovereign, like the nobles of
the blood. Their authority seems to have been usually local,
and always in subordination to the territorial jurisdiction of
the great provincial governors, who were taken from the
Incas.4

que no la entendian los demas Indies, ni les era licito aprenderla, como
lenguage divino. Esta me escriven del Peru, que se ha perdido totalmente ;
porque como perecib la republica particular de los Incas, perecib tambien
el lenguage dellos.” — Garcilasso, Com. Real., pane i. lib. vii. cap. i.

1 “Una sola gente hallo yo que era exenta, que eran los Ingas del
Cuzco y por alii al rededor de ambas parcialidades, porque estos no solo
no pagavan tributo, pero aun comian de lo que traian al Inga de todo el
reino, y estos eran por la mayor parte los governadores en todo el reino, y
por donde quiera que iban se les hacia mucha honrra.” — Ondegardo,
Rel. Prim., MS.

2 Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. ii. cap. xv.

3 In this event, it seems, the successor named was usually presented to
the Inca for confirmation. At other times the Inca himself selected the
heir from among the children of the deceased curaca. “ In short,’' says
Ondegardo, “there was no rule of succession so sure, but it might be set
aside by the supreme will of the sovereign.” — Rel. Prim., MS.

4 Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. iv. cap. x. — Sarmiento, Relacion,
MS., cap. xi. — Dec. de la Aud. Real., MS. — Cieza de Leon, Cronica, cap.
jeeiii. — Conq. i Pob. del. Piru, MS.

Civilisation of the Incas 23

It was the Inca nobility, indeed, who constituted the real
strength of the Peruvian monarchy. Attached to their prince
by ties of consanguinity, they had common sympathies, and,
to a considerable extent, common interests with them. Dis¬
tinguished by a peculiar dress and insignia, as well as by
language and blood, from the rest of the community, they
were never confounded with the other tribes and nations who
were incorporated into the great Peruvian monarchy. After
the lapse of centuries, they still retained their individuality as
a peculiar people. They were to the conquered races of the
country what the Romans were to the barbarous hordes of
the Empire, or the Normans to the ancient inhabitants of the
British Isles. Clustering around the throne, they formed an
invincible phalanx, to shield it alike from secret conspiracy
and open insurrection. Though living chiefly in the capital,
they were also distributed throughout the country, in all its
high stations and strong military posts, thus establishing lines
of communication with the court, which enabled the sovereign
to act simultaneously and with effect on the most distant
quarters of his empire. They possessed, moreover, an in¬
tellectual pre-eminence, which, no less than their station, gave
them authority with the people. Indeed, it may be said to
have been the principal foundation of their authority. The
crania of the Inca race show a decided superiority over the
other races of the land in intellectual power ; 1 and it cannot
be denied that it was the fountain of that peculiar civilisation
and social polity, which raised the Peruvian monarchy above
every other state in South America. Whence this remarkable
race came, and what was its early history, are among those
mysteries that meet us so frequently in the annals of the New
World, and which time and the antiquary have as yet done
little to explain.

1 Dr. Morton’s valuable work contains several engravings of both the
Inca and the common Peruvian skull, showing that the facial angle in the
former, though by no means great, was much larger than that in the latter,
which was singularly flat and deficient in intellectual character. — Crania
Americana (Philadelphia, 1S29).

Conquest of Peru

CHAPTER II

ORDERS OF THE STATE — PROVISIONS FOR JUSTICE - DIVISION

OF LANDS - REVENUES AND REGISTERS — GREAT ROADS AND

POSTS - MILITARY TACTICS AND POLICY

If we are surprised at the peculiar and original features of
what may be called the Peruvian aristocracy, we shall be still
more so as we descend to the lower orders of the community,
and see the very artificial character of their institutions, — as
artificial as those of ancient Sparta, and, though in a different
way, quite as repugnant to the essential principles of our
nature. The institutions of Lycurgus, however, were designed
for a petty state, while those of Peru, although originally
intended for such, seemed, like the magic tent in the Arabian
tale, to have an indefinite power of expansion, and were as
well suited to the most flourishing condition of the empire as
to its infant fortunes. In this remarkable accommodation to
change of circumstances, we see the proofs of a contrivance
that argues no slight advance in civilisation.

The name of Peru was not known to the natives. It was
given by the Spaniards, and originated, it is said, in a mis¬
apprehension of the Indian name of “river.”1 However this
may be, it is certain that the natives had no other epithet by
which to designate the large collection of tribes and nations
who were assembled under the sceptre of the Incas, than that
of Tavan tinsuyu, or “four quarters of the world.” 2 * * This will
not surprise a citizen of the United States, who has no other
name by which to class himself among nations than what
is borrowed from a quarter of the globe.8 The kingdom,

1 Pelu , according to Garcilasso, was the Indian name for “river,” and
was given by one of the natives in answer to a question put to him by the
Spaniards, who conceived it to be the name of the country. (Com. Real.,
parte i. lib. i. cap. vi.) Such blunders have led to the names of many
places both in North and South America. Montesinos, however, denies
that there is such an Indian term for “river.” (Mem. Antiguas, MS., lib.
i. cap. ii. ) According to this writer, Peru was the ancient Ophir , whence
Solomon drew such stores of wealth ; and which, by a very natural
transition, has in time been corrupted into Pkiru, Pirn , Peru l The first
book of the Memorias, consisting of thirty-two chapters, is devoted to this
precious discovery.

2 Ondegardo, Rel. Prim., MS. — Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. ii.

cap. xi.

2 Yet an American may find food for his vanity in the reflection, that the

Civilisation of the Incas 25

conformably to its name, was divided into four parts, dis¬
tinguished each by a separate title, and to each of which ran
one of the four great roads that diverged from Cuzco, the
capital or navel of the Peruvian monarchy. The city was in
like manner divided into four quarters ; and the various races,
which gathered there from the distant parts of the empire,
lived each in the quarter nearest to its respective province.
They all continued to wear their peculiar national costume, so
that it was easy to determine their origin ; and the same order
and system of arrangement prevailed in the motley population
of the capital, as in the great provinces of the empire. The
capital, in fact, was a miniature image of the empire.1

The four great provinces were each placed under a viceroy
or governor, who ruled over them with the assistance of one
or more councils for the different departments. These viceroys
resided, some portion of their time, at least, in the capital,
where they constituted a sort of council of state to the Inca.2
The nation at large was distributed into decades, or small
bodies of ten ; and every tenth man, or head of a deca.de,
had supervision of the rest, — being required to see that they
enjoyed the rights and immunities to which they were entitled,
to solicit aid in their behalf from government, when necessary,
and to bring offenders to justice. To this last they were
stimulated by a law that imposed on them, in case of neglect,
the same penalty that would have been incurred by the guilty
party. With this law hanging over his head the magistrate of
Peru, we may well believe, did not often go to sleep on his
post.3

The people were still further divided into bodies of fifty,

name of a quarter of the globe, inhabited by so many civilised nations,
has been exclusively conceded to him. — Was it conceded or assumed?

1 Garcilasso, parte i. cap. ix. x. Cieza de Leon, Cronica, cap. xciiL
The capital was further divided into two parts, the Upper and Lower
town, founded, as pretended, on the different origin of the population ;
a division recognised also in the inferior cities. — Ondegardo, Rel. Seg.,
MS.

2 Dec. de la Aud. Real., MS. — Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. ii.
cap. xv. For this account of the councils I am indebted to Garcilasso,
who frequently fills up gaps that have been left by his fellow-labourers.
Whether the filling up will, in all cases, bear the touch of time, as well as
the rest of his work, one may doubt.

s Dec. de la Aud. Real., MS. — Montesinos, Mem. Antiguas. MS., lib.
ii. cap. vi. — Ondegardo, Rel. Prim., MS. How analogous is the Peruvian
to the Anglo-Saxon division into hundreds and tithings ! But the Saxon
law was more humane, which imposed only a fine on the district in case
of a criminal’s escape.

C 301

26 Conquest of Peru

one hundred, five hundred, and a thousand, with each an
officer having general supervision over those beneath, and the
higher ones possessing, to a certain extent, authority in matters
of police. Lastly, the whole empire was distributed into
sections or departments of ten thousand inhabitants, with a
governor over each from the Inca nobility, who had control
over the curacas and other territorial officers in the district.
There were, also, regular tribunals of justice, consisting of
magistrates, in each of the towns or small communities, with
jurisdiction over petty offences, while those of a graver character
were carried before superior judges, usually the governors or
rulers of the districts. These judges all held their authority
and received their support from the crown, by which they
were appointed and removed at pleasure. They were obliged
to determine every suit in five days from the time it was
brought before them ; and there was no appeal from one
tribunal to another. Yet there were important provisions for
the security of justice. A committee of visitors patrolled the
kingdom at certain times, to investigate the character and
conduct of the magistrates; and any neglect or violation of
duty was punished in the most exemplary manner. The
inferior courts were also required to make monthly returns
of their proceedings to the higher ones, and these made
reports in like manner to the viceroys : so that the monarch,
seated in the centre of his dominions, could look abroad, as it
were, to their most distant extremities, and review and rectify
any abuses in the administration of the law.1

The laws were few and exceedingly severe. They related
almost wrholly to criminal matters. Few other laws were
needed by a people who had no money, little trade, and hardly
anything that could be called fixed property. The crimes of
theft, adultery, and murder were all capital ; though it was
wisely provided that some extenuating circumstances might be
allowed to mitigate the punishment.2 Blasphemy against the

1 Dec. de la And. Real., MS. — Ondegardo, Rel. Prim, et Seg., MSS. —
Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. ii. cap. xi.-xiv. — Montesinos, Mem.
Antiguas, MS., lib. ii. cap. vi. The accounts of the Peruvian tribunals by
the early authorities are very meagre and unsatisfactory. Even the lively
imagination of Garcilasso has failed to supply the blank.

2 Ondegardo, Rel. Prim., MS. — Herrera, Hist. General, dec. v. lib. iv.
cap. iii. Theft was punished less severely, if the offender had been really
guilty of it to supply the necessities of life. It is a singular circumstance,
that the Peruvian law made no distinction between fornication and adultery,
both being equally punished with death. Yet the law could hardly have
been enforced, since prostitutes were assigned, or at least allowed, a

Civilisation of the Incas 27

Sun, and malediction of the Inca, — offences, indeed, of the
same complexion, — were also punished with death. Removing
landmarks, turning the water away from a neighbour’s land
into one’s own, burning a house, were all severely punished.
To burn a bridge was death. The Inca allowed no obstacle
to those facilities of communication so essential to the
maintenance of public order. A rebellious city or province
was laid waste, and its inhabitants exterminated. Rebellion
against the “ Child of the Sun ” was the greatest of all crimes.1

The simplicity and severity of the Peruvian code may be
thought to infer a state of society but little advanced ; which
had few of those complex interests and relations that grow up
in a civilised community, and which had not proceeded far
enough in the science of legislation to economise human
suffering by proportioning penalties to crimes. But the
Peruvian institutions must be regarded from a different point
of view from that in which we study those of other nations.
The laws emanated from the sovereign, and that sovereign
held a divine commission, and was possessed of a divine
nature. To violate the law, was not only to insult the majesty
of the throne, but it was sacrilege. The slightest offence,
viewed in this light, merited death ; and the gravest could
incur no heavier penalty.2 Yet, in the infliction of their
punishments, they showed no unnecessary cruelty ; and the
sufferings of the victim were not prolonged by the ingenious
torments so frequent among barbarous nations.3

These legislative provisions may strike us as very defective,
even as compared with those of the semi-civilised races of
Anahuac, where a gradation of courts, moreover, with the

residence in the suburbs of the cities. — See Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte
i. lib. iv. cap. xxxiv.

1 Sarmiento, Relacion, MS., cap. xxiii. “I los traidores entre ellos
llamava aucaes, i esta palabra es la mas abiltada de todas quantas pueden
decir aun Indio del Piru, que quiere decir trairlor a su senor.” (Conq. i
Pob. del Piru, MS.) “ En las rebeliones y alzamientos se hi cieron los
castigos tan asperos, que algunas veces asolaron las provincias de todos los
varones de edad, sin quedar ninguno.” — Ondegardo, Rel. Prim., MS.

2 “ El castigo era riguroso, que por la mayor parte era de muerte, por
liviano que fuese el delito ; porque decian, que no los castigavan por el
delito que avian hecho, ni por la ofensa agena, sino por aver quebrantado
el mandamiento, y rompido la palabra del Inca, que lo respetavan como &
Dios. ” — Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. ii. cap. xii.

3 One of the punishments most frequent for minor offences was to carry
a stone on the back. A punishment attended with no suffering but what
aiises from the disgrace attached to it, is very justly characterised by
M'Culloch as a proof of sensibility and refinement.

28 Conquest of Peru

right of appeal, afforded a tolerable security for justice. But
in a country like Peru, where few but criminal causes were
known, the right of appeal was of less consequence. The law
was simple, its application easy ; and, where the judge was
honest, the case was as likely to be determined correctly on
the first hearing as on the second. The inspection of the
board of visitors, and the monthly returns of the tribunals,
afforded no slight guaranty for their integrity. The law which
required a decision within five days would seem little suited
to the complex and embarrassing litigation of a modern
tribunal. But, in the simple questions submitted to a Peruvian
judge, delay would have been useless ; and the Spaniards,
familiar with the evils growing out of long-protracted suits,
where the successful litigant is too often a ruined man, are
loud in their encomiums of this swift-handed and economical
justice.1

The fiscal regulations of the Incas, and the laws respecting
property, are the most remarkable features in the Peruvian
polity. The whole territory of the empire was divided into
three parts, one for the Sun, another for the Inca, and the
last for the people. Which of the three was the largest, is
doubtful. The proportions differed materially in different
provinces. The distribution, indeed, was made on the same
general principle, as each new conquest was added to the
monarchy ; but the proportion varied according to the amount
of population, and the greater or less amount of land
consequently required for the support of the inhabitants.2

The lands assigned to the Sun furnished a revenue to
support the temples, and maintain the costly ceremony of
the Peruvian worship and the multitudinous priesthood.
Those reserved for the Inca went to support the royal state,
as well as the numerous members of his household and his

1 The Royal Audience of Peru under Phi! ip II. — there cannot be a
higher authority — bears emphatic testimony to the cheap and efficient
administration of justice under the Incas. “ De suerte que los vicios eran
bien castigados y la gente estaba bien sujeta y obediente ; y aunque en las
dichas penas havia esceso, redundaba en buen govierno y poiicia suya, y

mediante ella eran aumentados . Porque los Yndios alababan la

governacion del Ynga, y aun los Espanoles que algo alcanzan de ella, es
porque todas las cosas susodichas se determinaban sin hacerles costas.” —
Dec. de la Aud. Real., MS.

2 Acosta, lib. vi. cap. xv. — Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. v. cap.
i. “Si estas partes fuesen iguales, o qual fuese mayor, yo lo ho procurado
averiguar ; y en unas es diferente de otras ; y finalmte yo tengo entendido
que se hacia conforme d la disposicion de la tierra y a la calidad de los
Indios.” — Ondegardo, Rel. Prim., MS.

Civilisation of the Incas 29

kindred, and supplied the various exigencies of government
The remainder of the lands were divided, per capita , in equal
shares among the people. It was provided by law, as we
shall see hereafter, that every Peruvian should marry at a
certain age. When this event took place, the community or
district in which he lived furnished him with a dwelling,
which, as it was constructed of humble materials, was done
at little cost. A lot of land was then assigned to him sufficient
for his own maintenance and that of his wife. An additional
portion was granted for every child* the amount allowed for a
son being the double of that for a daughter. The division of
the soil was renewed every year, and the possessions of the
tenant were increased or diminished according to the numbers
in his family.1 The same arrangement was observed with
reference to the curacas, except only that a domain was
assigned to them corresponding with the superior dignity of
their stations.2

A more thorough and effectual agrarian law than this cannot
be imagined. In other countries where such a law has been
introduced, its operation, after a time, has given way to the
natural order of events, and, under the superior intelligence
and thrift of some and the prodigality of others, the usual
vicissitudes of fortune have been allowed to take their course,
and restore things to their natural inequality. Even the iron
law of Lycurgus ceased to operate after a time, and melted
away before the spirit of luxury and avarice. The nearest
approach to the Peruvian constitution was probably in Judea,
where, on the recurrence of the great national jubilee, at the
close of every half-century, estates reverted to their original

1 Ondegardo, Rel. Prim., MS. — Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. v.
cap. ii. The portion granted to each new-married couple, according to
Garcilasso, was a fanega and a half of land. A similar quantity was added
for each male child that was born, and half of the quantity for each female.
The fanega was as much land as could be planted with a hundredweight of
Indian corn. In the fruitful soil of Peru this was a liberal allowance for a
family.

2 Ibid., parte i. lib. v. cap. iii. It is singular, that while so much is
said of the Inca sovereign, so little should be said of the Inca nobility, of
their estates, or the tenure by which they held them. Their historian
tells us, that they had the best of the lands wherever they resided, besides
the interest which they had in those of the Sun and the Inca, as children of
the one, and kinsmen of the other. He informs us also, that they were
supplied from the royal table when living at court. (Lib. vi. cap. iii.)
But this is very loose language. The student of history will learn on the
threshold, that he is not to expect precise, or even very consistent, accounts
of the institutions of a barbarous age and people, from contemporary
annalists.

30 Conquest of Peru

proprietors. There was this important difference in Peru, that
not only did the lease, if we may so call it, terminate with the
year, but during that period the tenant had no power to alienate
or to add to his possessions. The end of the brief term found
him in precisely the same condition that he was in at the
beginning. Such a state of things might be supposed to be
fatal to anything like attachment to the soil, or to that desire
of improving it, which is natural to the permanent proprietor,
and hardly less so to the holder of a long lease. But the
practical operation of the law seems to have been otherwise ,
and it is probable, that, under the influence of that love cf
order and aversion to change which marked the Peruvian
institutions, each new partition of the soil usually confirmed
the occupant in his possession, and the tenant for a year was
converted into a proprietor for life.

The territory was cultivated wholly by the people. The
lands belonging to the Sun were first attended to. They next
tilled the lands of the old, of the sick, of the widow and the
orphan, and of soldiers engaged in actual service ; in short, of
all that part of the community who, from bodily infirmity or
any other cause, were unable to attend to their own concerns.
The people were then allowed to work on their own ground,
each man for himself, but with the general obligation to assist
his neighbour, when any circumstance — the burden of a young
and numerous family, for example — might demand it.1 Lastly,
they cultivated the lands of the Inca. This was done with
great ceremony by the whole population in a body. At break
of day, they were summoned together by proclamation from
some neighbouring tower or eminence, and all the inhabitants
of the district — men, women, and children — appeared dressed
in their gayest apparel, bedecked with their little store of finery
and ornaments, as if for some great jubilee. They went
through the labours of the day with the same joyous spirit,
chanting their popular ballads, which commemorated the heroic
deeds of the Incas, regulating their movements by the measure
of the chant, and all mingling in the chorus, of which the word
hailli , or “ triumph/’ was usually the burden. These national
airs had something soft and pleasing in their character, that
recommended them to the Spaniards ; and many a Peruvian
song was set to music by them after the Conquest, and was

1 Garcilasso relates that an Indian was hanged by Huayna Capac foi
tilling a curaca’s ground, his near relation, before that of the poor.
The gallows was erected on the curaca’s own land. — Ibid., parte i. lib.
v. cap. ii.

Civilisation of the Incas 31

listened to by the unfortunate natives with melancholy satisfac¬
tion, as it called up recollections of the past, when their days
glided peacefully away under the sceptre of the Incas.1

A similar arrangement prevailed with respect to the different
manufactures as to the agricultural products of the country.
The flocks of llamas, or Peruvian sheep, were appropriated
exclusively to the Sun and to the Inca.2 Their number was
immense. They were scattered over the different provinces,
chiefly in the colder regions of the country, where they were
intrusted to the care of experienced shepherds, who conducted
them to different pastures according to the change of season.
A large number was every year sent to the capital for the
consumption of the court, and for the religious festivals and
sacrifices. But these were only the males, as no female was
allowed to be killed. The regulations for the care and breeding
of these flocks were prescribed with the greatest minuteness,
and with a sagacity which excited the admiration of the
Spaniards, who were familiar with the management of the great
migratory flocks of merinos in their own country.3

At the appointed season they were all sheared, and the wool
was deposited in the public magazines. It was then dealt out
to each family in such quantities as sufficed for its wants, and
was consigned to the female part of the household, who were
well instructed in the business of spinning and weaving. When
this labour was accomplished, and the family was provided
with a coarse but warm covering, suited to the cold climate of
the mountains, — for, in the lower country, cotton, furnished in
like manner by the crown, took the place, to a certain extent,
of wool, — the people were required to labour for the Inca.
The quantity of the cloth needed, as well as the peculiar kind
and quality of the fabric, was first determined at Cuzco. The
work, was then apportioned among the different provinces.
Officers, appointed for the purpose, superintended the distribu¬
tion of the wool, so that the manufacture of the different

1 Garcilasso, parte i. lib. v. cap. i.-iii. — Ondegardo, Rel. Seg. MS.

2 Ondegardo, Rel. Prim., MS. Yet sometimes the sovereign would
recompense some great chief, or even some one among the people, who
had rendered him a service, by the grant of a small number of llamas, —
never many. These were not to be disposed of or killed by their owners,
but descended as common property to their heirs. This strange arrange¬
ment proved a fruitful source of litigation after the Conquest. — Ibid.,
ubi supra.

3 See especially the account of the Licentiate Ondegardo, who goes into
more detail than any contemporary writer concerning the management o 1
the Peruvian flocks. — Rel. Seg., MS.

32 Conquest of Peru

articles should be intrusted to the most competent hands.1
They did not leave the matter here, but entered the dwellings,
from time to time, and saw that the work was faithfully
executed. This domestic inquisition was not confined to the
labours for the Inca ; it included, also, those for the several
families ; and care was taken that each household should
employ the materials furnished for its own use in the manner
that was intended, so that no one should be unprovided with
necessary apparel.2 In this domestic labour all the female
part of the establishment was expected to join. Occupation
was found for all, from the child five years old to the aged
matron not too infirm to hold a distaff. No one, at least none
but the decrepit and the sick, was allowed to eat the bread of
idleness in Peru. Idleness was a crime in the eye of the law,
and, as such, severely punished ; while industry was publicly
commended and stimulated by rewards.3

The like course was pursued with reference to the other
requisitions of the government. All the mines in the kingdom
belonged to the Inca. They were wrought exclusively for his
benefit, by persons familiar with this service, and selected from
the districts where the mines were situated.4 Every Peruvian
of the lower class was a husbandman, and, with the exception
of those already specified, was expected to provide for his own
support by the cultivation of his land. A small portion of the
community, however, was instructed in mechanical arts : some
of them of the more elegant kind, subservient to the purposes
of luxury and ornament. The demand for these was chiefly
limited to the sovereign and his court ; but the labour of a
larger number of hands was exacted for the execution of the
great public works which covered the land. The nature and

1 Ondegardo, Rel. Prim, et Seg., MSS. The manufacture of cloths for
the Inca included those for the numerous persons of the blood royal, who
wore garments of a finer texture than was permitted to any other Peruvian.
— Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. v. cap. vi.

2 Ondegardo, Rel. Seg., MS. — Acosta, lib. vi. cap. xv.

s Ondegardo, Rel. Seg., MS. — Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. v.
cap. xi.

4 Garcilasso would have us believe that the Inca was indebted to the
curacas for his gold and silver, which were furnished by the great vassals as
presents. — (Com. Real., parte i. lib. v. cap. vii. ) This improbable state¬
ment is contradicted by the Report of the Royal Audience, MS., by
Sarmiento, (Relacion, MS., cap xv.,)and by Ondegardo, (Rel. Prim., MS.,)
who all speak of the mines as the property of the government, and wrought
exclusively for its benefit. From this reservoir, the proceeds were liberally
dispensed in the form of presents among the great lords, and still more for
the embellishment of the temples.

Civilisation of the Incas 33

amount of the services required were all determined at Cuzco
by commissioners well instructed in the resources of the
country, and in the character of the inhabitants of different

provinces.1

This information was obtained by an admirable regulation,
which has scarcely a counterpart in the annals of a semi-civilised
people. A register was kept of all the births and deaths
throughout the country, and exact returns of the actual popula¬
tion were made to government every year, by means of the
quipus , a curious invention, which will be explained hereafter.2
At certain intervals, also, a general survey of the country was
made, exhibiting a complete view of the character of the soil,
its fertility, the nature of its products, both agricultural and
mineral — in short, of all that constituted the physical resources
of the empire.3 Furnished with these statistical details, it was
easy for the government, after determining the amount of
requisitions, to distribute the work among the respective
provinces best qualified to execute it. The task of apportion¬
ing the labour was assigned to the local authorities, and great
care was taken that it should be done in such a manner, that
while the most competent hands were selected, it should not
fall disproportionately heavy on any.4

The different provinces of the country furnished persons
peculiarly suited to different employments, which, as we shall
see hereafter, usually descended from father to son. Thus,
one district supplied those most skilled in working the mines,
another the most curious workers in metals or in wood, and
so on.5 The artisan was provided by government with the
materials ; and no one was required to give more than a
stipulated portion of his time to the public service. He was

1 Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. v. cap. xiii.-xvi. — Ondegardo, Rel.
Prim, et Seg., MSS.

2 Montesinos, Mem. Antiguas, MS., lib. ii. cap. vi. — Pedro Pizarro,
Relacion del Descubrimiento y Conquista de los Reynos del Peru, MS.
“ Cada provincia, en fin del ano, mandava asentar en los quipos, por la
cuenta de sus nudes, todos los hombres que habian muerto en ella en aquel
ano, y por el consiguiente los que habian nacido, y por principio del ano
que entraba, venian con los quipos al Cuzco.” — Sarmiento, Relacion, MS.,
cap. xvi.

3 Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. ii. cap. xiv.

4 Ondegardo, Rel. Prim., MS. — Sarmiento, Rel., MS., cap. xv.
“ Tresupuesta y entendida la dicha division que el Inga tenia hecha de su
gente, y orden que tenia puesta en el govierno de ella, era muy facil haver la
en la division y cobranza de los dichos tributos ; porque era claro y cierto
Io que a cada uno cabia sin que hubiese desigualdad ni engano.” — Dec. de
la Aud. Real., MS.

5 Sarmiento, Relacion, MS., cap. xv. — Ondegardo, Rel. Seg., MS.

*C 301

34 Conquest of Peru

then succeeded by another for the like term : and it should
be observed, that all who were engaged in the employment of
the government — and the remark applies equally to agricultural
labour — were maintained, for the time, at the public expense.1
By this constant rotation of labour, it was intended that no one
should be overburdened, and that each man should have time
to provide for the demands of his own household. It was
impossible, in the judgment of a high Spanish authority, to
improve on the system of distribution, so carefully was it
accommodated to the condition and comfort of the artisan.2
The security of the working classes seems to have been ever
kept in view in the regulations of the government ; and these
were so discreetly arranged, that the most wearing and un¬
wholesome labours, as those of the mines, occasioned no
detriment to the health of the labourer, — a s riking contrast to
his subsequent condition under the Spanish rule.3

A part of the agricultural produce and manufactures was
transported to Cuzco, to minister to the immediate demands
of the Inca and his court. But far the greater part was stored
in magazines scattered over the different provinces. These
spacious buildings, constructed of stone, were divided between
the Sun and the Inca, though the greater share seems to have
been appropriated by the monarch. By a wise regulation, any
deficiency in the contributions of the Inca might be supplied
from the granaries of the Sun.4 But such a necessity could
rarely have happened; and the providence of the government
usually left a large surplus in the royal depositories, which was
removed to a third class of magazines, whose design was to
supply the people in seasons of scarcity, and occasionally, to
furnish relief to individuals whom sickness or misfortune had

1 Ondegardo, Rel. Prim., MS. — Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. v.
cap. v.

2 “ Y tambien se tenia cuentaque el trabajo que pasavan fuese moderado,

y con el menos riesgo que fuese posible . Era tanta la orden que

tuvieron estos Indios, que a mi parecer, aunque muclio se piense en ello, seria
aifficultoso mejorarla conocida su condicion y costumbres.” — Ondegardo,
Rel. Prim., MS.

3 “The working of the mines,” says the President of the Council of the
Indies, “ was so regulated, that no one felt it a hardship, much less was
his life shortened by it.” — (Sarmiento, Relacion, MS., cap. xv.) It is a
frank admission for a Spaniard.

4 Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. v, cap. xxxiv. — Ondegardo, Rel.
Prim., MS. “E asi esta parte del Inga no hay duda sino que de todas
tres era la mayor, y en los despositos se parece bien que yo vi.dt6 muchos
en diferentes partes, e son mayores e mas largos que no los de su religion
sin comparacion.” — Idem, Rel. Seg., MS.

Civilisation of the Incas 35

reduced to poverty ; thus, in a manner, justifying the assertion
of a Castilian document, that a large portion of the revenues
of the Inca found its way back again, through one channel or
another, into the hands of the people.1 These magazines
were found by the Spaniards, on their arrival, stored with all
the various products and manufactures of the country — with
maize, coca , quinua , woollen and cotton stuffs of the finest
quality, with vases and utensils of gold, silver, and copper ; in
short, with every article of luxury or use within the compass of
Peruvian skill.2 The magazines of grain, in particular, would
frequently have sufficed for the consumption of the adjoining
district for several years.3 An inventory of the various products
of the country, and the quarters whence they were obtained,
was every year taken by the royal officers, and recorded by the
quipucamayus on their registers, with surprising regularity and
precision. These registers were transmitted to the capital, and
submitted to the Inca, who could thus at a glance, as it were,
embrace the whole results of the national industry, and see how
far they corresponded with the requisitions of government.4

Such are some of the most remarkable features of the
Peruvian institutions relating to property, as delineated by
writers who, however contradictory in the details, have a
general conformity of outline. These institutions are certainly
so remarkable, that it is hardly credible they should ever have
been enforced throughout a great empire, and for a long
period of years. Yet we have the most unequivocal testimony
to the fact from the Spaniards, who landed in Peru in time

1 “Todos los dichos tributos y servicios que el Inga imponia y llevaba
como dicho es eran con color y para efecto del govierno y pro comun de
todos, asi como lo que se ponia en depositos todo se combertia y distribuia
entre los mismos naturales.” — Dec. de la Aud. Real., MS.

2 Acosta, lib. vi. cap. xv. “No podre decir, ” says one of the conquerors,
“los depositos. Vide de rropas y de todos generos de rropas y vestidos
que en este reino se hacian y vsavan que faltava tiempo para vello y
entendimiento para comprender tanta cosa, muchos depositos de barretas
de cobre para las minas, y de costales y sogas, de vasos de palo y platos
del oro y plata, que aqui se hallo hera cosa despanto.” — Pedro Pizarro,
Descub. y Conq., MS.

3 For ten years, sometimes, if we may credit Ondegardo, who had every
means of knowing. “ E ansi cuando n6 era menester se estaba en los

depositos e habia algunas vezes comida de diez anos . Los cuales

todos se hallaron llenos cuando llegaron los Espanoles desto y de todos las
cosas necesarias para la vida humana.” — Rel. Seg., MS.

4 Ondegardo, Rel. Prim., MS. “ Por tanta orden e cuenta que seria
dificultoso creerlo ni darlo a entender como ellos lo tienen en su cuenta b
por registros e por menudo lo manifestaron que se pudiera por estenso.”—
Idem, Rel. Seg., MS.

36 Conquest of Peru

to witness their operation ; some of whom, men of high
judicial station and character, were commissioned by the
government to make investigations into the state of the
country under its ancient rulers.

The impositions on the Peruvian people seem to have been
sufficiently heavy. On them rested the whole burden of
maintaining, not only their own order, but every other order
in the state. The members of the royal house, the great
nobles, even the public functionaries, and the numerous body
of the priesthood, were all exempt from taxation.1 The whole
duty of defraying the expenses of the government belonged to
the people. Yet this was not materially different from the
condition of things formerly existing in most parts of Europe,
where the various privileged classes claimed exemption — not
always with success, indeed — from bearing part of the public
burdens. The great hardship in the case of the Peruvian was,
that he could not better his condition. His labours were for
others rather than for himself. However industrious, he could
not add a rood to his own possessions, nor advance himself
one hair’s breadth in the social scale. The great and universal
motive to honest industry, that of bettering one’s lot, was lost
upon him. The great law of human progress was not for him.
As he was born, so he was to die. Even his time he could
not properly call his own. Without money, with little property
of any kind, he paid his taxes in labour.2 No wonder that the
government should have dealt with sloth as a crime. It was a
crime against the state, and to be wasteful of time was, in a
manner, to rob the exchequer. The Peruvian, labouring all
his life for others, might be compared to the convict in a
treadmill, going the same dull round of incessant toil, with the
consciousness, that, however profitable the results to the state,
they were nothing to him.

But this is the dark side of the picture. If no man could
become rich in Peru, no man could become poor. No
spendthrift could waste his substance in riotous luxury. No
adventurous schemer could impoverish his family by the spirit
of speculation. The law was constantly directed to enforce
a steady industry and a sober management of his affairs. No
mendicant was tolerated in Peru. When a man was reduced
by poverty or misfortune, (it could hardly be by fault,) the
arm of the law was stretched out to minister relief ; not the

1 Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. v. cap xv.

2 “ Solo el trabajo de las personas era el tnbuto que se dava, porque
ellos no poseian otra cosa.” — Ondejjardo, Rel. Prim., MS.

Civilisation of the Incas

stinted relief of private charity, nor that which is doled out
drop by drop, as it were, from the frozen reservoirs of “ the
parish,” but in generous measure, bringing no humiliation
to the object of it, and placing him on a level with the rest
of his countrymen.1

No man could be rich, no man could be poor, in Peru ; but
all might enjoy, and did enjoy, a competence. Ambition,
avarice, the love of change, the morbid spirit of discontent,
those passions which most agitate the minds of men, found no
place in the bosom of the Peruvian. The very condition of
his being seemed to be at war with change. He moved
on in the same unbroken circle in which his fathers had
moved before him, and in which his children were to follow.
It was the object of the Incas to infuse into their subjects a
spirit of passive obedience and tranquillity, — a perfect acquies¬
cence in the established order of things. In this they fully
succeeded. The Spaniards who first visited the country are
emphatic in their testimony, that no government could have
been better suited to the genius of the people ; and no people
could have appeared more contented with their lot, or more
devoted to their government.2

Those who may distrust the accounts of Peruvian industry,
will find their doubts removed on a visit to the country. The
traveller still meets, especially in the central regions of the
table-land, with memorials of the past, remains of temples,
palaces, fortresses, terraced mountains, great military roads,
aqueducts, and other public works, which, whatever degree of
science they may display in their execution, astonish him by
their number, the massive character of the materials, and the
grandeur of the design. Among them, perhaps, the most

1 “ Era tanta la orden que tenia en todos sus reinos y provincias, que no
consentia haver ningun Indio pobre ni menesteroso, porque ha via orden i
formas para ello sin que los pueblos reciviesen vexacion ni molestia, porque
el Inga lo suplia de sus tributos.” (Conq. i Pob. del Piru, MS.) The
Licentiate Ondegardo sees only a device of Saian in these provisions of the
Peruvian law, by which the old, the infirm, and the poor were rendered,
in a manner, independent of their children and those nearest of kin, on
whom they would naturally have leaned for support ; no surer way to
harden the heart, he considers, than by thus disengaging it from the
sympathies of humanity ; and no circumstance has done more, he concludes,
to counteract the influence and spread of Christianity among the natives. —
(Rel. Seg., MS.) The views are ingenious; but, in a country where the
people had no property, as in Peru, there would seem to be no alternative
for the supernumeraries, but to receive support from government or to
starve.

'* Acosta, lib. vi. cap. xii. xv. — Sarmiento, Relacion, MS., cap. x.

38 Conquest of Peru

remarkable are the great roads, the broken remains of which
are still in sufficient preservation to attest their former magnifi¬
cence. There were many of these roads traversing different
parts of the kingdom ; but the most considerable were the two
which extended from Quito to Cuzco, and, again diverging from
the capital, continued in a southern direction towards Chili.

One of these roads passed over the grand plateau, and the
other along the lowlands on the borders of the ocean. The former
was much the more difficult achievement, from the character of
the country. It was conducted over pathless sierras buried in
snow ; galleries were cut for leagues through the living rock ;
rivers were crossed by means of bridges that swung suspended
in the air ; precipices were scaled by stairways hewn out of the
native bed ; ravines of hideous depth were filled up with solid
masonry ; in short, all the difficulties that beset a wild and
mountainous region, and which might appal the most courageous
engineer of modern times, were encountered and successfully
overcome. The length of the road, of which scattered frag¬
ments only remain, is variously estimated from fifteen hundred
to two thousand miles ; and stone pillars, in the manner of
European mile-stones, were erected at stated intervals of some¬
what more than a league, all along the route. Its breadth
scarcely exceeded twenty feet.1 It was built of heavy flags
of freestone, and in some parts, at least, covered with a bitu¬
minous cement, which time has made harder than the stone
itself. In some places where the ravines had been filled up
with masonry, the mountain torrents, wearing on it for ages,
have gradually eaten awTay through the base, and left the super¬
incumbent mass — such is the cohesion of the materials still
spanning the valley like an arch ! 2

1 Dec. de la Aud. Real., MS. “ Este camino, hecho por valles ondos,
y por sierras alias, por montes de nieve, por tremedales de agua, y por
pena viva, y junto a rios furiosos por estas partes, y ballano y empedrado
por las laderas, bien sacado por las sierras, deshechado, por las penas
socavado, por junto a los rios sus paredes, entre nieves con escalones y
descanso, por todas partes limpio barrido descombrado, lleno de aposentos,
de depositos de tesoros, de templos del Sol, de postas que havia en este
camino.” — Sarmiento, Relacion, MS., cap. lx.

2 “On avait comble les vides et les ravins par de grandes masses de
mai^onnerie. Les torrents, qui descendent des hauteurs apres des pluies
abondantes, avaient creuse les endroits les moins solides, et s’etaieni fraye line
voie sous le chemin, le laissant ainsi suspendu en 1’air, comme un pont fait
d’une seule piece.” (Velasco, Hist, de Quito, tom. i. p. 206.) This writer
speaks from personal observation, having examined and measured different
parts of the road in the latter part of the last century. The Spanish scholar
will find in Appendix , No. 2, an animated description of this magnificent

Civilisation of the Incas 39

Over some of the boldest streams it was necessary to con¬
struct suspension-bridges, as they are termed, made of the
tough fibres of the maguey , or of the osier of the country, which
has an extraordinary degree of tenacity and strength. These
osiers were woven into cables of the thickness of a man’s body.
The huge ropes, then stretched across the water, were conducted
through rings or holes cut in immense buttresses of stone
raised on the opposite banks of the river, and there secured to
heavy pieces of timber. Several of these enormous cables,
bound together, formed a bridge, which, covered with planks,
well secured and defended by a railing of the same osier
materials on the sides, afforded a safe passage for the traveller.
The length of this aerial bridge, sometimes exceeding two
hundred feet, caused it, confined as it was only at the ex¬
tremities, to dip with an alarming inclination towards the centre,
while the motion given to it by the passenger occasioned an
oscillation still more frightful, as his eye wandered over the
dark abyss of waters that foamed and tumbled many a fathom
beneath. Yet these light and fragile fabrics were crossed with¬
out fear by the Peruvians, and are still retained by the Spani¬
ards over those streams which, from the depth or impetuosity
of the current, would seem impracticable for the usual modes
of conveyance. The wider and more tranquil waters were
crossed on balsas — a kind of raft still much used by the natives
— to which sails were attached, furnishing the only instance of
this higher kind of navigation among the American Indians.1

The other great road of the Incas lay through the level
country between the Andes and the ocean. It was constructed
in a different manner, as demanded by the nature of the ground,
which was for the most part low, and much of it sandy. The
causeway was raised on a high embankment of earth, and
defended on either side by a parapet or wall of clay ; and trees
and odoriferous shrubs were planted along the margin, regaling
the sense of the traveller with their perfumes, and refreshing
him by their shades, so grateful under the burning sky of the
tropics. In the strips of sandy waste which occasionally inter¬
vened, where the light and volatile soil was incapable of
sustaining a road, huge piles, many of them to be seen at this

work, and of the obstacles encountered in the execution of it, in a passage
borrowed from Sarmiento, who saw it in the days of the Incas.

1 Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. iii. cap. vii. A particular account
of these bridges, as they are still to be seen in different parts of Peru, may
be found in Humboldt. (Vues des Cordilleres, p. 230, et seq.) The balsai
are described with equal minuteness by Stevenson. — Residence in America,
vol. ii. p. 2 22, et seq.

40 Conquest of Peru

day, were driven into the ground, to indicate the route to the
traveller.1

All along these highways, caravanseries, or tambos , as they
were called, were erected, at the distance of ten or twelve miles
from each other, for the accommodation, more particularly, of
the Inca and his suite, and those who journeyed on the public
business. There were few other travellers in Peru. Some of
these buildings were on an extensive scale, consisting of a
fortress, barracks, and other military works, surrounded by a
parapet of stone, and covering a large tract of ground. These
were evidently destined for the accommodation of the imperial
armies, when on their march across the country. The care of
the great roads was committed to the districts through which
they passed, and a large number of hands was constantly em¬
ployed under the Incas to keep them in repair. This was the
more easily done in a country where the mode of travelling was
altogether on foot ; though the roads are said to have been so
nicely constructed, that a carriage might have rolled over them
as securely as cn any of the great roads of Europe.2 Still, in a
region where the elements of fire and water are both actively at
work in the business of destruction, they must, without constant
supervision, have gradually gone to decay. Such has been
their fate under the Spanish conquerors, who took no care to
enforce the admirable system for their preservation adopted by
the Incas. Yet the broken portions that still survive, here and
there, like the fragments of the great Roman roads scattered
over Europe, bear evidence to their primitive grandeur, and
have drawn forth the eulogium from a discriminating traveller,
usually not too profuse in his panegyric, “ that the roads of the
Incas were among the most useful and stupendous works ever
executed by man.”3

The system of communication through their dominions was
still further improved by the Peruvian sovereigns, by the

1 Cieza de Leon, Cronica, cap. lx. — Relacion del Primer Descubrimiento
de la Costa y Mar del Sur, MS. This anonymous document of one of the
early conquerors contains a minute and probably trustworthy account of both
the high-roads, which the writer saw in their glory, and which he ranks
among the greatest wonders of the world.

2 Relacion del Primer Descub., MS. — Cieza de Leon, Cronica, cap. xxxvii.
— Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. i. cap. xi. — Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte
i. lib. ix. cap. xiii.

3 “ Cette chaussee, bord^e de grandes pierres de taille, peut etre com-
paree aux plus belles routes des Remains que j’aie vues en Italie, en France,

et en Espagne . Le grand chemin de lTnca, un desouvrages les plus

utiles, et en meme temps des plus gigantesques que les hommes aient
execute.” — Humboldt, Vues des Cordilleres, p. 294.

Civilisation of the Incas 41

introduction of posts, in the same manner as was done by the
Aztecs. The Peruvian posts, however, established on all the
great routes that conducted to the capital, were on a much
more extended plan than those in Mexico. All along these
routes small buildings were erected, at the distance of less
than five miles asunder,1 in each of which a number of runners,
or chasquis , as they were called, were stationed, to carry forward
the despatches of government.2 These despatches were either
verbal or conveyed by means of quipus, and sometimes accom¬
panied by a thread of the crimson fringe worn round the
temples of the Inca, which was regarded with the same
implicit deference as the signet ring of an Oriental despot.3

The chasquis were dressed in a peculiar livery, intimating
their profession. They were all trained to the employment,
and selected for their speed and fidelity. As the distance
each courier had to perform was small, and as he had ample
time to refresh himself at the stations, they ran over the
ground with great swiftness, and messages were carried through
the whole extent of the long routes, at the rate of a hundred
and fifty miles a day. The office of the chasquis was not
limited to carrying despatches. They frequently brought
various articles for the use of the court ; and in this way, fish
from the distant ocean, fruits, game, and different commodities
from the hot regions on the coast, were taken to the capital
in good condition, and served fresh at the royal table.4 It is
remarkable that this important institution should have been
known to both the Mexicans and Peruvians without any
correspondence with one another; and that it should have
been found among two barbarian nations of the New World,

1 The distance between the post-houses is variously stated ; most writers
not estimating it at more than three-fourths of a league. I have preferred
the authority of Ondegardo, who usually writes with more conscientiousness
and knowledge of his ground than most of his contemporaries.

2 The term chasqui , according to Montesinos, signifies “one that
receives a thing.” (Mem. Antiguas, MS., cap. vii.) But Garcilasso, a
better authority for his own tongue, says it meant “ one who makes an
exchange.” — Com. Real., parte i. lib. vi. cap. viii.

3 “Con vn hilo de esta borla, entregado d uno de aquellos Orejones,
governaban la tierra, i proveian lo que querian con maior obediencia, que
en ninguna provincia del mundo se ha visto tener a las provissiones de su
Rei.” — Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. i. cap. ix.

4 Sarmiento, R.elacion, MS., cap. xviii. — Dec. de la Aud. Real., MS.
If we may trust Montesinos, the royal table was served with fish, taken a
hundred leagues from the capital, in twenty-four hours after it was drawn
from the ocean ! (Mem. Antiguas, MS., lib. ii. cap. vii.) This is rather
too expeditious for anything but rail-cars.

42 Conquest of Peru

long before it was introduced among the civilised nations of
Europe.1

By these wise contrivances of the Incas, the most distant
parts of the long-extended empire of Peru were brought into
intimate relations with each other. And while the capitals of
Christendom, but a few hundred miles apart, remained as far
asunder as if seas had rolled between them, the great capitals
Cuzco and Quito were placed by the high-roads of the Incas
in immediate correspondence. Intelligence from the numerous
provinces was transmitted on the wings of the wind to the
Peruvian metropolis, the great focus to which all the lines of
communication converged. Not an insurrectionary movement
could occur, not an invasion on the remotest frontier, before
the tidings were conveyed to the capital, and the imperial
armies were on their march across the magnificent roads of
the country to suppress it. So admirable was the machinery
contrived by the American despots for maintaining tranquillity
throughout their dominions ! It may remind us of the similar
institutions of ancient Rome, when, under the Caesars, she
was mistress of half the world.

A principal design of the great roads was to serve the
purposes of military communication. It formed an important
item of their military policy, which is quite as well worth
studying as their municipal.

Notwithstanding the pacific professions of the Incas, and
the pacific tendency, indeed, of their domestic institutions,
they were constantly at war. It was by war that their paltry
territory had been gradually enlarged to a powerful empire.
When this was achieved, the capital, safe in its central position,
was no longer shaken by these military movements, and the
country enjoyed, in a great degree, the blessings of tranquillity
and order. But, however tranquil at heart, there is not a
reign upon record in which the nation was not engaged in
war against the barbarous nations on the frontier. Religion
furnished a plausible pretext for incessant aggression, and
disguised the lust of conquest in the Incas, probably from
their own eyes, as well as from those of their subjects. Like

1 The institution of the Peruvian posts seems to have made a great
impression on the minds of the Spaniards who first visited the country.
The establishment of posts is of old date among the Chinese, and probably
still older among the Persians. It is singular, that an invention designed
for the uses of a despotic government should have received its full appli¬
cation only under a free one ; for in it we have the germ of that beautiful
system of intercommunication, which binds all the nations of Clnistenuom
together as one vast commonwealth.

Civilisation of the Incas

the followers of Mahomet, bearing the sword in one hand and
the Koran in the other, the Incas of Peru offered no alternative
but the worship of the Sun or war.

It is true, their fanaticism — or their policy — showed itself
in a milder form than was found in the descendants of the
Prophet. Like the great luminary which they adored, they
operated by gentleness more potent than violence.1 They
sought to soften the hearts of the rude tribes around them,
and melt them by acts of condescension and kindness. Far
from provoking hostilities, they allowed time for the salutary
example of their own institutions to work its effect, trusting
that their less civilised neighbours would submit to their
sceptre, from a conviction of the blessings it would secure
to them. When this course failed, they employed other
measures, but still of a pacific character; and endeavoured
by negotiation, by conciliatory treatment, and by presents to
their leading men, to win them over to their dominion. In
short, they practised all the arts familiar to the most subtle
politician of a civilised land to secure the acquisition of
empire. When all these expedients failed, they prepared for
war.

Their levies were drawn from all the different provinces ;
though from some, where the character of the people was
particularly hardy, more than from others.2 It seems probable
that every Peruvian, who had reached a certain age, might be
called to bear arms. But the rotation of military service, and
the regular drills, which took place twice or thrice in a month,
of the inhabitants of every village, raised the soldiers generally
above the rank of a raw militia. The Peruvian army, at first
inconsiderable, came with the increase of population, in the
latter days of the empire, to be very large, so that their
monarchs could bring into the field, as contemporaries assure
us, a force amounting to two hundred thousand men. They
showed the same skill and respect for order in their military
organisation, as in other things. The troops were divided into
bodies corresponding with our battalions and companies, led
by officers, that rose, in regular gradation, from the lowest
subaltern to the Inca noble, who was intrusted with the general
command.3

Their arms consisted of the usual weapons employed by

1 “Mas se hicieron senores al pvincipio por mafia, que por fuerza.” —
Ondegatdo, Rel. Prim., MS.

2 Ondegardo, Rel. Prim., MS. — Dec. de la Aud. Real., MS.

* Gomara, Cronica, cap. cxcv. — Conq. i Pob. del Piru, MS.

44 Conquest of Peru

nations, whether civilised or uncivilised, before the invention
of powder, — bows and arrows, lances, darts, a short kind of
sword, a battle-axe or partisan, and slings, with which they
were very expert. Their spears and arrows were tipped with
copper, or, more commonly, with bone, and the weapons of
the Inca lords were frequently mounted with gold or silver.
Their heads were protected by casques made either of wood
or of the skins of wild animals, and sometimes richly decor¬
ated with metal and with precious stones, surmounted by the
brilliant plumage of the tropical birds. These, of course,
were the ornaments only of the higher orders. The great
mass of the soldiery were dressed in the peculiar costume of
their provinces, and their heads were wreathed with a sort of
turban or roll of different-coloured cloths, that produced a gay
and animating effect. Their defensive armour consisted of a
shield or buckler, and a close tunic of quilted cotton, in the
same manner as with the Mexicans. Each company had its
particular banner, and the imperial standard, high above all,
displayed the glittering device of the rainbow, the armorial
ensign of the Incas, intimating their claims as children of the
skies.1

By means of the thorough system of communication estab¬
lished in the country, a short time sufficed to draw the levies
together from the most distant quarters. The army was put
under the direction of some experienced chief, of the blood
royal, or, more frequently, headed by the Inca in person. The
march was rapidly performed, and with little fatigue to the
soldier ; for all along the great routes, quarters were provided
for him, at regular distances, where he could find ample
accommodations. The country is still covered with the remains
of military works, constructed of porphyry or granite, which
tradition assures us were designed to lodge the Inca and his
army.2

At regular intervals, also, magazines were established, filled

1 Gomara, Cronica, ubi supra. — Sarmiento, Relacion, MS., cap. xx. —
Velasco, Hist, de Quito, tom. i. pp. 176-179. This last writer gives a
minute catalogue of the ancient Peruvian arms, comprehending nearly
everything familiar to the European soldier, except fire-arms. It was
judicious in him to omit these.

2 Zarate, Conq. del. Peru, lib. i. cap. xi.— Sarmiento, Relacion, MS.,
cap. lx. Condamine speaks of the great number of these fortified places,
scattered over the country between Quito and Lima, which he saw in his
visit to South America in 1737, some of which he has described with great
minuteness. — Memoire sur quelques anciens Monumens du Perou, du Terns
des Incas, cap. Histoire de l’Academie Royale des Sciences et de Belles
Lettres, (Berlin, 1 74S, ) tom. ii. p. 438.

Civilisation of the Incas 45

with grain, weapons, and the different munitions of war, with
which the army was supplied on its march. It was the especial
care of the government to see that these magazines, which
were furnished from the stores of the Incas, were always well
filled. When the Spaniards invaded the country, they sup¬
ported their own armies for a long time on the provisions
found in them.1 The Peruvian soldier was forbidden to com¬
mit any trespass on the property of the inhabitants whose
territory lay in the line of march. Any violation of this order
was punished with death.2 The soldier was clothed and fed
by the industry of the people, and the Incas rightly resolved
that he should not repa.y this by violence. Far from being a
tax on the labours of the husbandman, or even a burden on
his hospitality, the imperial armies traversed the country, from
one extremity to the other, with as little inconvenience to the
inhabitants, as would be created by a procession of peaceful
burghers, or a muster of holiday soldiers for a review.

From the moment war was proclaimed, the Peruvian
monarch used all possible expedition in assembling his forces,
that he might anticipate the movements of his enemies, and
prevent a combination with their allies. It was, however, from
the neglect of such a principle of combination, that the several
nations of the country, who might have prevailed by con¬
federated strength, fell one after another under the imperial
yoke. Yet, once in the field, the Inca did not usually show
any disposition to push his advantages to the utmost, and urge
his foe to extremity. In every stage of the war he was open
to propositions for peace ; and although he sought to reduce
his enemies by carrying off their harvests and distressing them
by famine, he allowed his troops to commit no unnecessary
outrage on person or property. “We must spare our enemies, ”
one of the Peruvian princes is quoted as saying, “ or it will be
our loss, since they and all that belongs to them must soon
be ours.” 3 It was a wise maxim, and, like most other wise

1 “E ansi cuando,” says Ondegardo, speaking from his own personal
knowledge, “el Senor Presidente Gasca passo con la gente de castigo de
Gonzalo Pizarro por el valle de Jauja, estuvo alii siete semanas a lo que me
acuerdo, se halaron en deposito maiz de cuatro v de tres y de dos anos mas
de I5B. hanegas junto al camino, e alii comio la gente, y se entendio que
si fuera menester muchas mas no faltaran en el valle en aquellos depositos,
conforme d la orden antigua, porque a mi cargoes tubo el repartirlas y
hacer la cuenta para pagarlas.” — Rel. Seg., MS.

2 Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., MS. — Cieza de Leon, Cronica, cap.
xliv. — Sarmiento, Relacion, MS., cap. xiv.

3 “ Mandabase que en los mantenimientos y casas de los enemigos se
hiciese poco dafio, diciendoles el sefior, presto seran estois nuestros como

46 Conquest of Peru

maxims, founded equally on benevolence and prudence. The
Incas adopted the policy claimed for the Romans by their
countryman, who tells us that they gained more by clemency
to the vanquished than by their victories.1

In the same considerate spirit, they were most careful to
provide for the security and comfort of their own troops ; and,
when a war was long protracted, or the climate proved
unhealthy, they took care to relieve their men by frequent
reinforcements, allowing the earlier recruits to return to their
homes.2 But while thus economical of life, both in their own
followers and in the enemy, they did not shrink from sterner
measures when provoked by the ferocious or obstinate character
of the resistance ; and the Peruvian annals contain more than
one of those sanguinary pages which cannot be pondered at
the present day without a shudder. It should be added, that
the beneficent policy, which I have been delineating as
characteristic of the Incas, did not belong to all ; and that
there was more than one of the royal line who displayed a full
measure of the bold and unscrupulous spirit of the vulgar
conqueror.

The first step of the government, after the reduction of a
country, was to introduce there the worship of the Sun.
Temples were erected, and placed under the care of a numer¬
ous priesthood, who expounded to the conquered people the
mysteries of their new faith, and dazzled them by the display of
its rich and stately ceremonial.3 Yet the religion of the con¬
quered was not treated with dishonour. The Sun was to be
worshipped above all; but the images of their gods were
removed to Cuzco and established in one of the temples, to
hold their rank among the inferior deities of the Peruvian
Pantheon. Here they remained as hostages, in some sort, for
the conquered nation, which would be the less inclined to
forsake its allegiance, when by doing so it must leave its
own gods in the hands of its enemies.4

The Incas provided for the settlement of their new con¬
quests, by ordering a census to be taken of the population,
and a careful survey to be made of the country, ascertaining

los que ya lo son ; como esto tenian conocido, procuraban que la guerra
fuese la mas liviana que ser pudiese.” — Sarmiento, Relacion, MS., cap. xiv.

1 “ Plus pene parcendo victis, quam vincendo imperium auxisse.” — Livy,
lib. xxx. cap. xlii.

2 Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. vi. cap. xviii.

8 Sarmiento, Relacion, MS., cap. xiv.

4 Acosta, lib. v. cap. xii. — Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. v,
cap. xii.

Civilisation of the Incas 47

its products and the character and capacity of its soil.1 A
division of the territory was then made on the same principle
with that adopted throughout their own kingdom ; and their
respective portions were assigned to the Sun, the sovereign,
and the people. The amount of the last was regulated by the
amount of the population, but the share of each individual was
uniformly the same. It may seem strange, that any people
should patiently have acquiesced in an arrangement which
involved such a total surrender of property ; but it was a
conquered nation that did so, held in awe, on the least
suspicion of meditating resistance, by armed garrisons, who
were established at various commanding points throughout
the country.2 It is probable, too, that the Incas made no
greater changes than was essential to the new arrangement,
and that they assigned estates, as far as possible, to their former
proprietors. The curacas, in particular, were confirmed in their
ancient authority ; or, when it was found expedient to depose
the existing curaca, his rightful heir was allowed to succeed
him.3 Every respect was shown to the ancient usages and
laws of the land, as far as was compatible with the fundamental
institutions of the Incas. It must also be remembered, that
the conquered tribes were, many of them, too little advanced
in civilisation to possess that attachment to the soil which
belongs to a cultivated nation.4 But, to whatever it be
referred, it seems probable that the extraordinary institutions of
the Incas were established with little opposition in the
conquered territories.5

Yet the Peruvian sovereigns did not trust altogether to this
show of obedience in their new vassals ; and, to secure it more

1 Ibid., parte i. lib. v. cap. xiii. xiv. — Sarmiento, Relacion, MS., cap.
xv.

2 Ibid., cap. xix.

3 Fernandez, Hist, del Peru, parte ii. lib. iii. cap. xi.

4 Sarmiento has given a very full and interesting account of the singularly
humane policy observed by the Incas in their conquests, forming a striking
contrast with the usual course of those scourges of mankind, whom man¬
kind is wise enough to requite with higher admiration even than it bestows
on its benefactors. As Sarmiento, who was President of the Royal Council
of the Indies, and came into the country soon after the Conquest, is a high
authority, and as his work, lodged in the dark recesses of the Escurial, is
almost unknown, I have transferred the whole chapter to Appendix, No. 3.

5 According to Velasco, even the powerful state of Quito, sufficiently
advanced in civilisation to have the law of property well recognised by its
people, admitted the institutions of the Incas “not only without repug¬
nance, but with joy.” (Hist, de Quito, tom. ii. p. 183.) But Velasco,
a modern authority, believed easily, or reckoned on his readers doing

48 Conquest of Peru

effectually, they adopted some expedients too remarkable to be
passed by in silence. Immediately after a recent conquest,
the curacas and their families were removed for a time to
Cuzco. Here they learned the language of the capital, became
familiar with the maimers and usages of the court, as well as
with the general policy of government, and experienced such
marks of favour from the sovereign as would be most grateful
to their feelings, and might attach them most warmly to his
person. Under the influence of these sentiments, they were
again sent to rule over their vassals, but still leaving their
eldest sons in the capital, to remain there as a guaranty for
their own fidelity, as well as to grace the court of the Inca.1

Another expedient was of a bolder and more original
character. This was nothing less than to revolutionise the
language of the country. South America, like North, was
broken up into a great variety of dialects, or rather languages,
having little affinity with one another. This circumstance
occasioned great embarrassment to the government in the
administration of the different provinces, with whose idioms
they were unacquainted. It was determined, therefore, to
substitute one universal language, the Quichua — the language
of the court, the capital, and the surrounding country — the
richest and most comprehensive of the South American dialects.
Teachers were provided in the towns and villages throughout
the land, who were to give instruction to all, even the humblest
classes ; and it was intimated at the same time, that no one
should be raised to any office of dignity or profit who was
unacquainted with this tongue. The curacas and other chiefs
who attended at the capital became familiar with this dialect in
their intercourse with the court, and, on their return home, set
the example of conversing in it among themselves. This
example was imitated by their followers, and the Quichua
gradually became the language of elegance and fashion, in
the same manner as the Norman French was affected by all
those who aspired to any consideration in England after the
Conquest. By this means, while each province retained its
peculiar tongue, a beautiful medium of communication was
introduced, which enabled the inhabitants of one part of the
country to hold intercourse with every other, and the Inca
and his deputies to communicate with all. This was the state
of things on the arrival of the Spaniards. It must be
admitted, that history furnishes few examples of more absolute

1 Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. v. cap. xii. ; lib. vii. cap, ii.

Civilisation of the Incas 49

authority than such a revolution in the language of an empire,
at the bidding of a master.1

Yet little less remarkable was another device of the Incas
for securing the loyalty of their subjects. When any portion
of the recent conquests showed a pertinacious spirit of disaffec¬
tion, it was not uncommon to cause a part of the population,
amounting, it might be, to ten thousand inhabitants or more,
to remove to a distant quarter of the kingdom, occupied by
ancient vassals of undoubted fidelity to the crown. A like
number of these last was transplanted to the territory left
vacant by the emigrants. By this exchange, the population was
composed of two distinct races, who regarded each other with
an eye of jealousy, that served as an effectual check on any
mutinous proceeding. In time the influence of the well-affected
prevailed, supported, as they were, by royal authority, and by
the silent working of the national institutions, to which the
strange races became gradually accustomed. A spirit of loyalty
sprang up by degrees in their bosoms, and, before a generation
had passed away, the different tribes mingled in harmony
together as members of the same community.2 Yet the
different races continued to be distinguished by difference of
dress ; since, by the law of the land, every citizen was required
to wear the costume of his native province.3 Neither could the
colonist, who had been thus unceremoniously transplanted,
return to his native district. For, by another law, it was for¬
bidden to any one to change his residence without license.4
He was settled for life. The Peruvian government prescribed
to every man his local habitation, his sphere of action, nay the
very nature and quality of that action. He ceased to be a free
agent ; it might be almost said, that it relieved him of personal
responsibility.

1 Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. vi. cap. xxxv. ; lib. vii. cap. i. ii. —
Ondegardo, Rel. Seg., MS. — Sarmiento, Relacion, MS., cap. lv. “Aunla
criatura no hubiese dejado el pecho de su madre quando le comenzasen a
mostrar la lengua que havia de saber ; y aunque al principio fue didcultoso,
e muchos se pusieron en no querer deprender mas lenguas de las suyas
propias, los reyes pudieron tanto que salieron con su intencion, y ellos
tubieron por bien de cumplir su mandado, v tan de veras se entendid en ello
que en tiempo de pocos anos se savia y usaba una lengua en mas de mil y
doscientas leguas.” — Ibid., cap. xxi.

2 Ondegardo, Rel. Prim., MS. — Fernandez, Hist, del Peru, parte ii.
lib. iii. cap. xi.

3 “This regulation, says Father Acosta, “the Incas held to be of
great importance to the order and right government of the realm. — Lib. vi.
cap. xvi.

4 Conq. i Pob. del Piru, MS.

50 Conquest of Peru

In following out this singular arrangement, the Incas
showed as much regard for the comfort and convenience of the
colonist as was compatible with the execution of their design.
They were careful that the mitimaes , as these emigrants were
styled, should be removed to climates most congenial with
their own. The inhabitants of the cold countries were not
transplanted to the warm, nor the inhabitants of the warm
countries to the cold.1 Even their habitual occupations were
consulted, and the fisherman was settled in the neighbourhood
of the ocean or the great lakes ; while such lands were assigned
to the husbandman as were best adapted to the culture with
which he was most familiar.2 And, as migration by many,
perhaps by most, would be regarded as a calamity, the govern¬
ment was careful to show particular marks of favour to the
mitimaes, and, by various privileges and immunities, to ameli¬
orate their condition, and thus to reconcile them, if possible,
to their lot.3

The Peruvian institutions, though they may have been
modified and matured under successive sovereigns, all bear the
stamp of the same original — were all cast in the same mould.
The empire, strengthening and enlarging at every successive
epoch of its history, was, in its latter days, but the development,
on a great scale, of what it was in miniature at its commence¬
ment, as the infant germ is said to contain within itself all the
ramifications of the future monarch of the forest. Each suc¬
ceeding Inca seemed desirous only to tread in the path, and
carry out the plans of his predecessor. Great enterprises, com¬
menced under one, were continued by another, and completed
by a third. Thus, while all acted on a regular plan, without
any of the eccentric or retrograde movements which betray the
agency of different individuals, the state seemed to be under
the direction of a single hand, and steadily pursued, as if
through one long reign, its great career of civilisation and of
conauest.

The ultimate aim of its institutions was domestic quiet.
But it seemed as if this were to be obtained only by foreign war.

1 “ Trasmutaban de las tales provincias la cantidad de gente de que de
ella parecia convenir que saliese, a los cuales mandaban passar a poblar otra
tierra del temple y manera de donde salian, si fria fria, si caliente caiiente,
en donde les daban tierras, y campos, y casas, tanto, y mas come dejaron ”
— Sarmiento, Relacion, MS., cap. xix.

a Ondegardo, Rel. Prim., MS.

3 The descendants of these mitimaes are still to be found in Quito, or
were so at the close of the last century, according to Velasco, distinguished
by this name from the rest of the population.

Civilisation of the Incas 51

Tranquillity in the heart of the monarchy, and war on its
borders, was the condition of Peru. By this war it gave
occupation to a part of its people, and, by the reduction and
civilisation of its barbarous neighbours, gave security to all.
Every Inca sovereign, however mild and benevolent in his
domestic rule, was a warrior, and led his armies in person.
Each successive reign extended still wider the boundaries of the
empire. Year after year saw the victorious monarch return
laden with spoils, and followed by a throng of tributary chief¬
tains to his capital. Plis reception there was a Roman triumph.
The whole of its numerous population poured out to welcome
him, dressed in the gay and picturesque costumes of the different
provinces, with banners waving above their heads, and strewing
branches and flowers along the path of the conqueror. The
Inca, borne aloft in his golden chair on the shoulders of his
nobles, moved in solemn procession, under the triumphal
arches that were thrown across the way, to the great Temple of
the Sun. There, without attendants — for all but the monarch
were excluded from the hallowed precincts — the victorious
prince, stripped of his royal insignia, barefooted, and with all
humility, approached the awful shrine, and offered up sacrifice
and thanksgiving to the glorious deity who presided over the
fortunes of the Incas. This ceremony concluded, the whole
population gave itself up to festivity — music, revelry, and
dancing were heard in every quarter of the capital, and
illuminations and bonfires commemorated the victorious cam¬
paign of the Inca, and the accession of a new territory to his
empire.1

In this celebration we see much of the character of a religious
festival ; indeed, the character of religion was impressed on all
the Peruvian wars. The life of an Inca was one long crusade
against the infidel, to spread wide the worship of the Sun, to
reclaim the benighted nations from their brutish superstitions,
and impart to them the blessings of a well-regulated government.
This, in the favourite phrase of our day, was the “ mission ” of
the Inca. It was also the mission of the Christian conqueror
who invaded the empire of the same Indian potentate. Which
of the two executed his mission most faithfully, history must
decide.

Yet the Peruvian monarchs did not show a childish im¬
patience in the acquisition of empire. They paused after a
campaign, and allowed time for the settlement of one conquest

1 Sarmiento, Relacion, MS., cap. iv. — Garulasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib.
iii. cap. xi. xvii. ; lib. vi. cap. xvi.

52 Conquest of Peru

before they undertook another ; and, in this interval, occupied
themselves with the quiet administration of their kingdom,
and with the long progresses, which brought them into nearer
intercourse with their people. During this interval, also, their
new vassals had begun to accommodate themselves to the
strange institutions of their masters. They learned to ap¬
preciate the value of a government which raised them above the
physical evils of a state of barbarism, secured them protection
of person, and a full participation in all the privileges enjoyed
by their conquerors ; and as they became more familiar with
the peculiar institutions of the country, habit, that second
nature, attached them the more strongly to these institutions,
from their very peculiarity. Thus, by degrees, and without
violence, arose the great fabric of the Peruvian empire, com¬
posed of numerous independent and even hostile tribes, yet
under the influence of a common religion, common language,
and common government, knit together as one nation,
animated by a spirit of love for its institutions and devoted
loyalty to its sovereign. What a contrast to the condition of
the Aztec monarchy, on the neighbouring continent, which,
composed of the like heterogeneous materials, without any
internal principle of cohesion, was only held together by the
stern pressure from without, of physical force ! — Why the
Peruvian monarchy should have fared no better than its rival,
in its conflict with European civilisation, will appear in the
following pages.

CHAPTER III

PERUVIAN RELIGION - DEITIES — GORGEOUS TEMPLES — FESTIVALS

— -VIRGINS OF THE SUN — MARRIAGE

It is a remarkable fact, that many, if not most, of the rude
tribes inhabiting the vast American continent, however dis¬
figured their creeds may have been in other respects by a
childish superstition, had attained to the sublime conception of
one Great Spirit, the Creator of the universe, who, immaterial
in his own nature, was not to be dishonoured by an attempt
at visible representation, and who, pervading all space, was not
to be circumscribed within the walls of a temple. Yet these
elevated ideas, so far beyond the ordinary range of the
untutored intellect, do not seem to have led to the practical

Civilisation of the Incas

consequences that might have been expected ; and few of the
American nations have shown much solicitude for the main¬
tenance of a religious worship, or found in their faith a
powerful spring of action.

But, with progress in civilisation, ideas more akin to those
of civilised communities were gradually unfolded ; a liberal
provision was made, and a separate order instituted, for the
services of religion, which were conducted with a minute and
magnificent ceremonial, that challenged comparison, in some
respects, with that of the most polished nations of Christendom.
This was the case with the nations inhabiting the table-land
of North America, and with the natives of Bogota, Quito,
Peru, and the other elevated regions on the great southern
continent. It was, above all, the case with the Peruvians, who
claimed a divine original for the founders of their empire,
whose laws all rested on a divine sanction, and whose domestic
institutions and foreign wars were alike directed to preserve
and propagate their faith. Religion was the basis of their
polity, the very condition, as it were, of their social existence.
The government of the Incas, in its essential principles, was a
theocracy.

Yet, though religion entered so largely into the fabric
and conduct of the political institutions of the people, their
mythology, that is, the traditionary legends by which they
affected to unfold the mysteries of the universe, was exceed¬
ingly mean and puerile. Scarce one of their traditions — except
the beautiful one respecting the founders of their royal dynasty
— is worthy of note, or throws much light on their own
antiquities, or the primitive history of man. Among the
traditions of importance, is one of the deluge, which they held
in common with so many of the nations in all parts of the
globe, and which they related with some particulars that bear
resemblance to a Mexican legend.1

Their ideas in respect to a future state of being deserve
more attention. They admitted the existence of the soul
hereafter, and connected with this a belief in the resurrection
of the body. They assigned two distinct places for the
residence of the good and of the wicked, the latter of which

1 They related that, after the deluge, seven persons issued from a cave
where they had saved themselves, and by them the earth was repeopled.
One of the traditions of the Mexicans deduced their descent, and that of
the kindred tribes, in like manner, from seven persons who came from as
many caves in Aztlan. The story of the deluge is told by different writers
with many variations, in some of which it is not difficult to detect the
plastic hand of the Christian convert.

54 Conquest of Peru

they fixed in the centre of the earth. The good they supposed
were to pass a luxurious life of tranquillity and ease, which
comprehended their highest notions of happiness. The wicked
were to expiate their crimes by ages of wearisome labour.
They associated with these ideas a belief in an evil principle
or spirit, bearing the name of Cupay, whom they did not
attempt to propitiate by sacrifices, and who seems to have been
only a shadowy personification of sin, that exercised little
influence over their conduct.1

It was this belief in the resurrection of the body which led
them to preserve the body with so much solicitude, — by a
simple process, however, that, unlike the elaborate embalming
of the Egyptians, consisted in exposing it to the action of the
cold, exceedingly dry, and highly rarified atmosphere of the
mountains.2 As they believed that the occupations in the
future world would have great resemblance to those of the
present, they buried with the deceased noble some of his ap¬
parel, his utensils, and frequently his treasures ; and completed
the gloomy ceremony by sacrificing his wives and favourite
domestics, to bear him company and do him service in the
happy regions beyond the clouds.3 Vast mounds of an
irregular, or, more frequently, oblong shape, penetrated by
galleries running at right angles to each other, were raised over
the dead, whose dried bodies or mummies have been found in
considerable numbers, sometimes erect, but more often in the
sitting posture common to the Indian tribes of both continents.
Treasures of great value have also been occasionally drawn
from these monumental deposits, and have stimulated
speculators to repeated excavations, with the hope of similar

1 Ondegardo, Rel. Seg. , MS. — Gomara, Hist, de las Ind. , cap. cxxiii.
— Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. ii. cap. ii. vii. One might suppose
that the educated Peruvians — if I may so speak — imagined the common
people had no souls, so little is said of their opinions as to the condition of
these latter in a future life, while they are diffuse on the prospects of the
higher orders, which they fondly believed were to keep pace with their
condition here-

2 Such, indeed, seems to be the opinion of Garcilasso, though some
writers speak of resinous and other applications for embalming the body.
The appearance of the royal mummies found at Cuzco, as reported both by
Ondegardo and Garcilasso, makes it probable that no foreign substance
was employed for their preservation.

3 Ondegardo, Rel. Seg., MS. The Licentiate says that this usage
continued even after the Conquest ; and that he had saved the life of more
than one favourite domestic, who had fled to him for protection, as they
were about to be sacrificed to the manes of their deceased lords. — Ibid,,
ubi supra.

Civilisation of the Incas 55

good fortune. It was a lottery like that of searching after
mines, but where the chances have proved still more against
the adventurers.1

The Peruvians, like so many other of the Indian races,
acknowledged a Supreme Being, the Creator and Ruler of the
universe, whom they adored under the different names of
Pachacamac and Viracocha.2 No temple was raised to this
invisible being, save one only in the valley which took its name
from the deity himself, not far from the Spanish city of Lima.
Even this temple had existed there before the country came
under the sway of the Incas, and was the great resort of Indian
pilgrims from remote parts of the land ; a circumstance
which suggests the idea, that the worship of this Great Spirit,
though countenanced, perhaps, b> their accommodating policy,
did not originate with the Peruvian princes.3

The deity whose worship they especially inculcated, and which
they never failed to establish wherever their banners were known
to penetrate, was the Sun. It was he, who, in a particular
manner, presided over the destinies of man ; gave light and
warmth to the nations, and life to the vegetable world j whom
they reverenced as the father of their royal dynasty, the founder
of their empire ; and whose temples rose in every city and
almost every village throughout the land, while his altars
smoked with burnt-offerings,— a form of sacrifice peculiar to the
Peruvians among the semi-civilised nations of the New World.4

1 Yet these sepulchral mines have sometimes proved worth the digging.
Sarmiento speaks of gold to the value of 100,000 castellanos as occasionally
buried with the Indian lords ; and Las Casas — not the best authority in
numerical estimates — says that treasures worth more than half a million of
ducats had been found, within twenty years after the Conquest, in the
tombs near Truxillo. Baron Humboldt visited the sepulchre of a Peruvian
prince in the same quarter of the country, whence a Spaniard in 1576 drew
forth a mass of gold worth a million of dollars !

2 Pachacamac signifies “ Pie who sustains or gives life to the universe. ’’
The name of the great deity is sometimes expressed by both Pachacamac
and Viracocha combined. (See Balboa, Hist, du Perou, chap vi. — Acosta,
lib. vi. cap. xxi.) An old Spaniard finds in the popular meaning of
Viracocha, “ foam of the sea,” an argument for deriving the Peruvian
civilisation from some voyager from the Old World. — Conq. i Pob. del
Piru, MS.

3 Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., MS. — Sarmiento, Relacion, MS.,
cap. xxvii. Ulloa notices the extensive ruins of brick which mark the
probable site of the temple of Pachacamac, attesting by their present ap¬
pearance its ancient magnificence and strength. — Memoires Philosophiques,
liistoriques, Physiques, (Paris, 1 787,) trad. Fr. p. 78.

4 At least, so says Dr. M'Culloch; and no better authority can be
required on American antiquities. (Researches, p. 392.) Might he not
have added barbarous nations also ?

56 Conquest of Peru

Besides the Sun, the Incas acknowledged various objects of
worship, in some way or other connected with this principal
deity. Such was the Moon, his sister-wife ; the Stars, revered
as part of her heavenly train, though the fairest of them, Venus,
known to the Peruvians by the name of Chasca, or the “ youth
with the long and curling locks, ” was adored as the page of the
Sun, whom he attends so closely in his rising and in his setting.
They dedicated temples also to the Thunder and Lightning,1
in whom they recognised the Sun's dread ministers, and to the
Rainbow, whom they worshipped as a beautiful emanation of
their glorious deity.2

In addition to these, the subjects of the Incas enrolled
among their inferior deities many objects in nature, as the
elements, the winds, the earth, the air, great mountains and
rivers, which impressed them with ideas of sublimity and power,
or were supposed in some way or other to exercise a mysterious
influence over the destinies of man.3 They adopted also a

1 Thunder, lightning, and thunderbolt, could be all expressed by the
Peruvians in one word, illapa. Hence some Spaniards have inferred a
knowledge of the Trinity in the natives ! “The devil stole all he could,”
exclaims Herrera, with righteous indignation. (Hist. General, dec. v. lib.
iv. cap. v.) These, and even rasher conclusions, (see Acosta, lib. v. cap.
xxviii.,) are scouted by Garcilasso, as inventions of Indian converts, willing
to please the imaginations of their Christian teachers. (Com. Real.,
parte i. lib. ii. cap. v. vi. ; lib. iii. cap. xxi. ) Imposture on the one hand,
and credulity on the other, have furnished a plentiful harvest of absurdities,
which has been diligently gathered in by the pious antiquary of a later
generation.

a Garcilasso’s assertion, that these heavenly bodies were objects of
reverence as holy things, but not of worship, is contradicted by Ondegardo,
Rel. Seg., MS., — Dec. de la Aud. Real., MS., — Herrera, Hist. General,
dec. v. lib. iv. cap. iv. , — Gomara, Hist, de las Ind. , cap. cxxi., and, I
might add, by almost every writer of authority whom I have consulted.
It is contradicted, in a manner, by the admission of Garcilasso himself, that
th ese several objects were all personified by the Indians as living beings,
and had temples dedicated to them as such, with their effigies delineated in
the same manner as was that of the Sun in his dwelling. Indeed, the
effort of the historian to reduce the worship of the Incas to that of the Sun
alone is not very reconcileable with what he elsewhere says of the homage
paid to Pachacamac, above all, and to Rimac, the great oracle of the
common people. The Peruvian mythology was, probably, not unlike that
of Hindostan, where, under two, or at most three, principal deities,
were assembled a host of inferior ones, to whom the nation paid religious
homage, as personifications of the different objects in nature.

5 These consecrated objects were termed huacas — a word of most pro¬
lific import, since it signified a temple, a tomb, any natural object
remarkable for its size or shape ; in short, a cloud of meanings, which by
their contradictory sense have thrown incalculable confusion over the
writings of historians and travellers.

Civilisation of the Incas 57

notion, not unlike that professed by some of the schools of
ancient philosophy, that everything on earth had its archetype
or idea, its mother , as they emphatically styled it, which they
held sacred, as, in some sort, its spiritual essence.1 But their
system, far from being limited even to these multiplied objects
of devotion, embraced within its ample folds the numerous
deities of the conquered nations, whose images were trans¬
ported to the capital, where the burdensome charges of their
worship were defrayed by their respective provinces. It was a
rare stroke of policy in the Incas, who could thus accommodate
their religion to their interests.2

But the worship of the Sun constituted the peculiar care of
the Incas, and was the object of their lavish expenditure.
The most ancient of the many temples dedicated to this
divinity was in the island of Titicaca, whence the royal
founders of the Peruvian line were said to have proceeded.
From this circumstance, this sanctuary was held in peculiar
veneration. Everything which belonged to it, even the broad
fields of maize, which surrounded the temple, and formed part
of its domain, imbibed a portion of its sanctity. The yearly
produce was distributed among the different public magazines,
in small quantities to each, as something that would sanctify
the remainder of the store. Happy was the man who could
secure even an ear of the blessed harvest for his own granary ! 3 * * * * 8

But the most renowned of the Peruvian temples, the pride
of the capital, and the wonder of the empire, was at Cuzco,
where, under the munificence of successive sovereigns, it had
become so enriched, that it received the name of Coricancha,

1 “La orden por donde fundavan sus huacas, que ellos llamavan a las
idolatrias, hera porque decian que todas criava el Sol, i que les dava madre
por madre, que mostravan a la tierra, porque decian que tenia madre, i
tenian le echo su vulto i sus adoratorios ; i al fuego decian que tambien
tenia madre ; i al mais i a las otras sementeras, i a las ovejas i ganado,
decian que tenian madre ; i i la chocha, que el brevaje que ellos usan,
decian que el vinagre della hera la madre, i lo reverenciavan i llamavan
mama agua madre del vinagre : i a cada cosa adoravan destas de su rnanera.”
— Conq. i Pob. del Piru, MS.

2 Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., MS. So it seems to have been re¬
garded by the Licentiate Ondegardo. “ E los idolos estaban en aql galpon
grande de la casa del Sol, y cada idolo destos tenia su servicio y gastos y

mugeres ; y en la casa del Sol le iban a hacer reverencia los que venian de
su provincia, para lo qual e sacrificios que se hacian proveian de su misma

tierra ord inaria e muy abundantemente por la misma orden que lo hacian

quando estada en la misma provincia, quedaba gran autoridad i. mi parecer

e aun fuerza a estos Ingas que cierto me causo gran admiracion.” — Rei.

Seg., MS.

8 Garcilasso, Com. ReaL, parte i. lib. iii. cap. xxv.

D 3oi

58 Conquest of Peru

or “ the Place of Gold.” It consisted of a principal building
and several chapels and inferior edifices, covering a large extent
of ground in the heart of the city, and completely encompassed
by a wall, which, with the edifices, was all constructed of stone.
The work was of the kind already described in the other public
buildings of the country, and was so finely executed that a
Spaniard, who saw it in its glory, assures us he could call to mind
only two edifices in Spam, which, for their workmanship, were
at all to be compared with it.1 Yet this substantial, and in
some respects magnificent structure, was thatched with straw !

The interior of the temple was the most worthy of admira¬
tion. It was literally a mine of gold. On the western wall
was emblazoned a representation of the deity, consisting of a
human countenance looking forth from amidst innumerable
rays of light which emanated from it in every direction, in the
same manner as the sun is often personified with us. The figure
was engraved on a massive plate of gold of enormous dimensions,
thickly powdered with emeralds and precious stones.2 It was
so situated in front of the great eastern portal, that the rays of
the morning sun fell directly upon it at its rising, lighting up the
whole apartment with an effulgence that seemed more than
natural, and which was reflected back from the golden ornaments
with which the walls and ceiling were everywhere encrusted.
Gold, in the figurative language of the people, was “ the tears
wept by the Sun,” 3 and every part of the interior of the temple
glowed with burnished plates and studs of the precious metal.
The cornices, which surrounded the walls of the sanctuary,
were of the same costly material ; and a broad belt or frieze of
gold let into the stone- work encompassed the whole exterior of
the edifice.4

1 “ Tenia este templo en circuito mas de quatro cientes pasos, todo cer-
cado de una muralla fuerte, labrado todo el edificio de cantera muy excelente
de fma piedra, muy bien puesta y asentada, y algunas piedras eran muy
grandes y soherbias ; no tenian mezcla de tierra ni cal, sino con el betun
que ellos suelen hacer sus edificios ; y estan tan bien labradas estas piedras,
que no se les parece mezcla ni juntura ninguna. En toda Espana no he visto
cosa que pueda comparar a estas paredes y postura de piedra, sino a la torre
que Hainan la Calahorra, que esta junto con la puente de Cordoba, y a una
obra que vi en Toledo, cuando fui a presentar la primera parte de mi
Cronica al Principe Dn Felipe.” — Sarmiento, Relacion, MS., cap. xxiv.

2 Conq. i Pob. del Piru, MS. — Cieza de Leon, Cronica, cap. xliv. xcii.
“ La figura del Sol, muy grande, hecha de oro obrada, muy primamente
engastonada en muchas piedras ricas.” — Sarmiento, Relacion, MS., cap.
xxiv.

3 “I al oro asimismo, decian que era lagrimas que el Sol llorava.” —
Conq. i Pob. del Piru, MS.

4 Sarmiento, Relacion, MS., cap. xxiv. — Antig. y Monumentos del Peru,

Civilisation of the Incas 59

Adjoining the principal structure were several chapels of
smaller dimensions. One of them was consecrated to the Moon,
the deity held next in reverence, as the mother of the Incas.
Her effigy was delineated in the same manner as that of the
Sun, on a vast plate that nearly covered one side of the apart¬
ment. But this plate, as well as all the decorations of the
building, was of silver, as suited to the pale, silvery light of the
beautiful planet. There were three other chapels, one of which
was dedicated to the host of Stars, who formed the bright court
of the Sister of the Sun ; another was consecrated to his dread
ministers of vengeance, the Thunder and the Lightning ; and a
third to the Rainbow, whose many-coloured arch spanned the
walls of the edifice with hues almost as radiant as its own.
There were besides several other buildings, or insulated apart¬
ments, for the accommodation of the numerous priests who
officiated in the services of the temple.1

All the plate, the ornaments, the utensils of every description,
appropriated to the uses of religion, were of gold or silver.
Twelve immense vases of the latter metal stood on the floor of
the great saloon, filled with grain of the Indian corn ; 2 the
censers for the perfumes, the ewers which held the water for
sacrifice, the pipes which conducted it through subterraneous
channels into the buildings, the reservoir that received it, even
the agricultural implements used in the gardens of the temple,
were all of the same rich materials. The gardens, like those
described belonging to the royal palaces, sparkled with gold
and silver, and various imitations of the vegetable kingdom
Animals, also, were to be found there — among which, the
llama, with its golden fleece, was most conspicuous — executed
in the same style, and with a degree of skill, which, in this

MS. “ Cercada junto a la techumbre de una plancha de oro de palmo
imedio de ancho, i lo mismo tenian por de dentro en cada bohio 6 casa
i aposento.” (Conq. i Pob. del Piru, MS.) “Tenia una cinta de planchas
de oro, de anchor de mas de un palmo, enlazadas en las piedras.” — Pedro
Pizarro, Descub. y Conq. MS.

1 Sarmiento, Relacion, MS., cap. xxiv. — Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte
i. lib. iii. cap. xxi. — Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., MS.

2 “ El bulto del Sol tenian mui grande de oro, i todo el servicio desta
casa era de plata i oro ; i tenian doze horones de plata blanca, que dos
hombres no abrazarian cada uno quadrados, i eran mas altos que una buena
pica, donde hechavan el maiz que havian de dar al Sol, segun ellos decian
que comiese.” — Conq. i Pob. del Piru, MS. The original, as the Spanish
reader perceives, says each of these silver vases or bins was as high as a
good lance, and so large that two men with outspread arms could barely
encompass them ! As this might, perhaps, embarrass even the most accom-'

• modating faith, I have preferred not to become responsible for any particu-
i lar dimensions.

Conquest of Peru

instance, probably, did not surpass the excellence of the
material.1

If the reader sees in this fairy picture only the romantic
colouring of some fabulous El Dovcido , he must recall whin nas
been said before in reference to the palaces of the Incas, and
consider that these “ Houses of the Sun,” as they were styled,
were the common reservoir into which flowed all the streams of
public and private benefaction throughout the empire. Some
of the statements, through credulity, and others, in the desire
of exciting admiration, may be greatly exaggerated ; but m the
coincidence of contemporary testimony, it is not easy to deter¬
mine the exact line which should mark the measure ot our scepti¬
cism. Certain it is, that the glowing picture I have given is
warranted by those who saw these buildings in their pride, or
shortly after they had been despoiled by the cupidity of their
countrymen. Many of the costly articles were huiied py the
natives, or thrown into the waters of the rivers and the lakes ;
but enough remained to attest the unprecedented opulence of
these religious establishments. Such things as weie in their
nature portable were speedily removed, to gratify the craving o:
the Conquerors, who even tore away the solid cornices and
frieze of gold from the great temple, filling the vacant places
with the cheaper, but — since it affords no temptation to avarice
— more durable, material of plaster. \7et even thus shorn of
their splendour, the venerable edifices still presented an attrac¬
tion to the spoiler, who found in their dilapidated walls an inex¬
haustible quarry for the erection of other buildings. On the
very around once crowned by the gorgeous Concancha ^ rose
the stately church of St. Dominic, one ol the most magnificent
structures of the New World. Fields of maize and lucerne
now bloom on the spot which glowed with the golden gardens
of the temple ) and the friar chants his orisons within the con¬
secrated precincts once occupied by the Children of the Sun.1

1 Levinus Apollonius, fol. 38. — Garcilasso, Com. Real, parte i. lib. iii.
cap. xxiv. — Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., MS. “Tenian un jardm
que los terrones eran pedazos de oro fino ; y estaban artificiosamen.e sem-
brado de maizales, los quales eran oro, asi las canas de ello como las ojas y
mazorcas ; v estaban tan bien plantados que aunque hiciesen recios bientos
no se arrancaban. Sin todo esto tenian hechas mas de vemte obejas de oro
con sus corderos, v los pastores con sus ondas y cayados que la» guardaban,
hecho de este metal. Havia mucha cantidad de tinajas de oro y de plata y
esmeraldas, vasos, ollas, y todo genero de vasijas todo de oro fino^ For
otras paredes tenian esculpidas y pintadas otras mayores cosas En fin, era
uno de los ricos templos que hubo en el mundo. — Sarmiento, Relacion,

MS., cap. xxiv.

2 Miller’s Memoiis, vol. ii. pp. 223, 224.

Civilisation of the Incas 61

Besides the great Temple of the Sun, there was a large
number of inferior temples and religious houses in the Peruvian
capital and its environs, amounting as is stated, to three or four
hundred ; 1 for Cuzco was a sanctified spot, venerated not only
as the abode of the Incas, but of all those deities who presided
over the motley nations of the empire. It was the city beloved
of the Sun ; where his worship was maintained in its splendour ;
“where every fountain, pathway, and wall,” says an ancient
chronicler, “ was regarded as a holy mystery : ” 2 and unfor¬
tunate was the Indian noble who, at some period or other of
his life, had not made his pilgrimage to the Peruvian Mecca.

Other temples and religious dwellings were scattered over
the provinces, and some of them constructed on a scale of
magnificence that almost rivalled that of the metropolis. The
attendants on these composed an army of themselves. The
whole number of functionaries, including those of the sacer¬
dotal order, who officiated at the Coricancha alone, was no less
than four thousand.3

At the head ot all, both here and throughout the land, stood
the great High Priest, or Villac Vmu, as he was called. He
was second only to the Inca in dignity, and was usually chosen
from his brothers or nearest kindred. Pie was appointed by
the monarch, and held his office for life; and he, in turn,
appointed to all the subordinate stations of his own order.
1 his order was very numerous. Those members of it who offi¬
ciated in the House of the Sun, in Cuzco, were taken exclusively
from the sacred race of the Incas. The ministers in the pro¬
vincial temples were drawn from the families of the curacas ;
but the office of high priest in each district was reserved for one
of the blood royal. It was designed by this regulation to pre¬
serve the faith in its purity, and to guard against any departure
from the stately ceremonial which it punctiliously prescribed.4

. 1 Herrera, Hist. General, dec. v. lib. iv. cap. viii. “ Havia en aquella
ciudad v legua y media de la redonda quatrocientos y tantos lugares, donde
se hacian sacrificios, y se gustava mucha sutna de hacienda en ellosT —
Ondegardo, Rel. Prim., MS.

2 Que aquella ciudad del Cuzco era casa y morada de dioses, e ansi no
habia en toda el la fuente ni paso ni pared que no dixesen que tenia mis-
terio.” — Ondegardo, Rel. Seg., MS.

3 Conq. i Pob. del Piru, MS. An army, indeed, if, as Cieza de Leon
states, the number of priests and menials employed in the famous temple of
Bilcas, on the route to Chili, amounted to 40,000 ! (Cronica, cap. lxxxix. )
Everything relating to these Houses of the Sun appears to have been on a
grand scale. But we may easily believe this a clerical error for 4000.

4 Sarmiento, Relacion, MS., cap. xxvii. — Conq. i Pob. del. Piru, MS.
It was only while the priests were engaged in the service of the temples,

62 Conquest of Peru

The sacerdotal order, though numerous, was not distin¬
guished by any peculiar badge or costume from the rest of
the nation. Neither was it the sole depository of the scanty
science of the country, nor was it charged with the business
of instruction, nor with those parochial duties, if they may be
so called, which bring the priest in contact with the great body
of the people — as was the case in Mexico. The cause of this
peculiarity may probably be traced to the existence of a superior
order, like that of the Inca nobles, whose sanctity of birth so
far transcended all human appointments, that they in a manner
engrossed whatever there was of religious veneration in the
people. They were, in fact, the holy order of the state.
Doubtless any of them might, as very many of them did, take
on themselves the sacerdotal functions ; and their own insignia
and peculiar privileges were too well understood to require any
further badge to separate them from the people. .

The duties of the priest were confined to ministration in the
temple. Even here his attendance was not constant, as he was
relieved after a stated interval by other brethren of his order,
who succeeded one another in regular rotation. His science
was limited to an acquaintance with the fasts and festivals of
his religion, and the appropriate ceremonies which distinguished
them. This, however frivolous might be its character, was no
easy acquisition ; for the ritual of the Incas involved a routine
of observances, as complex and elaborate as ever distinguished
that of any nation, whether pagan or Christian. Each month
had its appropriate festival, or rather festivals. The four prin¬
cipal had reference to the Sun, and commemorated the great
periods of his annual progress, the solstices and equinoxes.
Perhaps the most magnificent of all the national solemnities
was the feast of Raymi, held at the period of the summer
solstice, when the Sun, having touched the southern extremity
of his course, retraced his path, as if to gladden the hearts of
his chosen people by his presence. On this occasion, the
Indian nobles from the different quarters of the country
thronged to the capital, to take part in the great religious
celebration.

For three days previous there was a general fast, and no fire
was allowed to be lighted in the dwellings. When the appointed
day arrived, the Inca and his court, followed by the whole

that they were maintained, according to Garcilasso, from the estates of the
Sun. At other times they were to get their support from their own lands,
which, if he is correct, were assigned to them in the same manner as to the
other orders of the nation. — Com. Real., parte i. lib. v. cap. viii.

Civilisation of the Incas 63

population of the city, assembled at early dawn in the great
square to greet the rising ot the Sun. They were dressed in
their gayest apparel, and the Indian lords vied with each other
in the display of costly ornaments and jewels on their persons,
while canopies of gaudy feather-work, and richly tinted stuffs,
borne by the attendants over their heads, gave to the great
square, and the streets that emptied into it, the appearance of
being spread over with one vast and magnificent awning.
Eagerly they watched the coming of their deity; and, no
sooner did his first yellow rays strike the turrets and loftiest
buildings of the capital, than a shout of gratulation broke
forth from the assembled multitude, accompanied by songs
of triumph and the wild melody of barbaric instruments, that
swelled louder and louder as his bright orb, rising above the
mountain range towards the east, shone in full splendour on
his votaries. After the usual ceremonies of adoration, a liba¬
tion was offered to the great deity by the Inca from a huge
golden vase, filled with the fermented liquor of maize or of
maguey, which, after the monarch had tasted himself, he dis¬
pensed among his royal kindred. These ceremonies completed,
the vast assembly was arranged in order of procession, and took
its way towards the Coricancha.1

As they entered the street of the sacred edifice, all divested
themselves of their sandals, except the Inca and his family,
who did the same on passing through the portals of the temple,
where none but these august personages were admitted.2 After
a decent time spent in devotion, the sovereign, attended by his
courtly train, again appeared, and preparations were made to
commence the sacrifice. This, with the Peruvians, consisted
of animals, grain, flowers, and sweet-scented gums ; sometimes
of human beings, on which occasions a child or beautiful
maiden was usually selected as the victim. But such sacrifices
were rare, being reserved to celebrate some great public event,
as a coronation, the birth ot a royal heir, or a great victory.
They were never followed by those cannibal repasts familiar iO
the Mexicans, and to many of the fierce tribes conquered by
the Incas. Indeed, the conquests of these princes might well

1 Dec. de la Aud. Real., MS.— Sarmiento, Relacion, MS., cap. xxvii.
rhe reader will find a brilliant, and not very extravagant, account of the
Peruvian festivals in Marmontel’s romance of Les Incas. The French
LUthor saw in their gorgeous ceremonial a fitting introduction to his own

iterary pageant. — Tom. L chap. i.-iv. , , •

2 ‘ 4 N ingun Indio comun osaba pasav por la calle del Sol ca zado , m

lintnmo, aunque fuese mui grand sefior, entrava en las casas del Sol con
apatos.”— Conq. i Pob. del Piru, MS.

64 Conquest of Peru

be deemed a blessing to the Indian nations, if it were only
from their suppression of cannibalism, and the diminution,
under their rule, of human sacrifices.1

At the feast of Raymi, the sacrifice usually offered was that
of the llama ; and the priest, after opening the body of his
victim, sought in the appearances which it exhibited to read
the lesson of the mysterious future. If the auguries were
unpropitious, a second victim was slaughtered, in the hope of
receiving some more comfortable assurance. The Peruvian
augur might have learned a good lesson of the Roman, — to
consider every omen as favourable which served the interests
of his country.2

A fire was then kindled by means of a concave mirror of
polished metal, which, collecting the rays of the sun into a
focus upon a quantity of dried cotton, speedily set it on fire.
It was the expedient used on the like occasions in ancient
Rome, at least under the reign of the pious Numa. When the
sky was overcast, and the face of the good deity was hidden
from his worshippers, which was esteemed a bad omen, fire was
obtained by means of friction. The sacred flame was intrusted
to the care of the Virgins of the Sun ; and if, by any neglect,
it was suffered to go out in the course of the year, the event

1 Garcilasso de la Vega flatly denies that the Incas were guilty of human
sacrifices ; and maintains, on the other hand, that they uniformly abolished
them in every country they subdued, where they had previously existed.
(Com. Real., parte i. lib. ii. cap. ix. et alibi.) But in this material fact he
is unequivocally contradicted by Sarmiento, Relation, MS., cap. xxii.,
Dec. de la Aud. Real., MS.,— Montesinos, Mem. Antiguas, MS., lib. ii.
cap. viii., — Balboa, Hist, du Perou, chap. v. viii., — Cieza de Leon,
Cronica, cap. lxxib, — Ondegardo, Rel. Seg., MS,, — Acosto, lib. v. cap.

— and I might, add, I suspect, were I to pursue the inquiry, by nearly
every ancient writer of authority ; some of whom, having come into the
country soon after the Conquest, while its primitive institutions were in
vigour, are entitled to more deference in a matter of this kind than
Garcilasso himself. It was natural that the descendant of the Incas should
desire to relieve his race from so odious an imputation ; and we must have
charity for him, if he does show himself, on some occasions, where the
honour of his country is at stake, “high gravel blind. It should be
added, in justice to the Peruvian government, that the best authorities
concur in the admission, that the sacrifices were few, both in number and
in magnitude, being reserved for such extraordinary occasions as those
mentioned in the text.

2 “ Augurque cum esset, dicere ausus est, optimis auspiciis ea geri, quae
pro reipublicse salute gererentur.” — Cicero, De Senectute. . This inspection
of the entrails of animals for the purposes of divination is worthy of note
as a most rare, if not a solitary, instance of the kind among the nations
of the New World, though so familiar in the ceremonial of sacrifice among
the pagan nations of the Old.

Civilisation of the Incas 65

was regarded as a calamity that boded some strange disaster to
the monarchy.1 A burnt-offering of the victims was then made
on the altars of the deity. This sacrifice was but the prelude
to the slaughter of a great number of llamas, part of the flocks
of the Sun, which furnished a banquet not only for the Inca
and his court, but for the people, who made amends at these
festivals for the frugal fare to which they were usually con¬
demned. A fine bread or cake, kneaded of maize flour by the
fair hands of the Virgins of the Sun, was also placed on the
royal board, where the Inca, presiding over the feast, pledged
his great nobles in generous goblets of the fermented liquor of
the country, and the long revelry of the day was closed at
night by music and dancing. Dancing and drinking were the
favourite pastimes of the Peruvians. These amusements con¬
tinued for several days, though the sacrifices terminated on the
first. Such was the great festival of Raymi ; and the recur¬
rence of this and similar festivities gave relief to the mono¬
tonous routine of toil prescribed to the lower orders of the
community.2

In the distribution of bread and wine at this high festival,
the orthodox Spaniards who first came into the country saw a
striking resemblance to the Christian communion ; 3 as in the
practice of confession and penance, which in a most irregular
form indeed seems to have been used by the Peruvians, they
discerned a coincidence with another of the sacraments of the
Church.4 The good fathers were fond of tracing such coinci¬
dences, which they considered as the contrivance of Satan, who
thus endeavoured to delude his victims by counterfeiting the

1 “ Vigilemque sacraverat ignem,

Excubias divum seternas.”

Plutarch, in his life of Numa, describes the reflectors used by the Romans
for kindling the sacred fire, as concave instruments of brass, though not
: spherical like the Peruvian, but of a triangular form.

2 Acosta, lib. v. cap. xxviii. xxix. — Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib.
vi. cap. xxiii.

3 “That which is most admirable in the hatred and presumption of
Sathan is, that he not only counterfeited in idolatry and sacrifices, but also
in certain ceremonies, our sacraments, which Jesus Christ our Lord insti¬
tuted, and the holy Church uses, having especially pretended to imitate, in
some sort, the sacrament of the communion, which is the most high and
divine of all others.” — Acosta, lib. v. cap. xxiii.

4 Herrera, Hist. General, dec. v. lib. iv. cap. iv. — Ondegardo, Rel.
Prim., MS. “The father of lies would likewise counterfeit the sacra¬
ment of confession, and in his idolatries sought to be honoured with
ceremonies very like to the manner of Christians.” — Acosta, lib. v.
cap. xxv.

66 Conquest of Peru

blessed rites of Christianity.1 Others, in a different vein,
imagined that they saw in such analogies the evidence that
some of the primitive teachers of the Gospel, perhaps an
apostle himself, had paid a visit to these distant regions, and
scattered over them the seeds of religious truth.2 But it seems
hardly necessary to invoke the Prince of Darkness or the inter¬
vention of the blessed saints, to account for coincidences which
have existed in countries far removed from the light of Chris¬
tianity, and in ages, indeed, when its light had not yet risen on
the world. It is much more reasonable to refer such casual
points of resemblance to the general constitution of man, and
the necessities of his moral nature.3

Another singular analogy with Roman Catholic institutions
is presented by the Virgins of the Sun, the “elect,” as they
were called,4 to whom I have already had occasion to refer.
These were young maidens dedicated to the service of the
deity, who, at a tender age, were taken from their homes and
introduced into convents, where they were placed under the
care of certain elderly matrons, mcimaconas, who had grown grey
within their walls.5 Under these venerable guides the holy
virgins were instructed in the nature of their religious duties.
They were employed in spinning and embroidery, and with the
fine hair of the vicuna, wove the hangings for the temples, and

* Cieza de Leon, not content with many marvellous accounts of the
influence and real apparition of Satan in the Indian ceremonies, has gar¬
nished his volume with numerous wood-cuts representing the Prince of Evil
in bodily presence, with the usual accompaniments of tail, claws, &c., as if
to re-enforce the homilies in his text ! The Peruvian saw in his idol a
god. His Christian conqueror saw in it the devil. One may be puzzled
to decide which of the two might lay claim to the grossest superstition.

2 Piedrahita, the historian of the Muyscas, is satisfied that this apostle
must have been St. Bartholomew, whose travels were known to have been
extensive. (Conq. de Granada, parte i. lib i. cap. iii.) The Mexican
antiquaries consider St. Thomas as having had charge of the mission to the
people of Anahuac. These two apostles, then, would seem to have divided
the New World, at least the civilised portions of it, between them. How
they came, whether by Behring’s Straits, or directly across the Atlantic, we
are not informed. Velasco — a writer of the eighteenth century ! — has little
doubt that they did really come. — Hist, de Quito, tom. i. pp. 89, 90.

3 The subject is illustrated by some examples in the History of the
Conquest of Mexico, Appendix , No. I, since the same usages in that
country led to precisely the same rash conclusions among the Conquerors.

4 “ Llamavase Casa de Escogidas ; porque las escogian, 6 por linage, 6
por hermosura. ” — Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. iv. cap. i.

6 Ondegardo, Rel. Prim., MS. The word mamacona signified
“ matron ” ; mama , the first half of this compound word, as already
noticed, meaning “mother.” — See Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. iv.
cap. i.

Civilisation of the Incas 67

the apparel for the Inca and his household.1 It was their duty
above all to watch over the sacred fire obtained at the festival
of Raymi. From the moment they entered the establishment
they were cut off from all connexion with the world, even with
their own family and friends. No one but the Inca and the
Coya, or queen, might enter the consecrated precincts. The
greatest attention was paid to their morals, and visitors were
sent every year to inspect the institutions, and to report on the
state of their discipline.2 Woe to the unhappy maiden who
was detected in an intrigue ! By the stern law of the Incas she
was to be buried alive, her lover was to be strangled, and the
town or village to which he belonged was to be razed to the
ground and “ sowed with stones,” as if to efface every memorial
of his existence.8 One is astonished to find so close a resem¬
blance between the institutions of the American Indian, the
ancient Roman, and the modern Catholic ! Chastity and
purity of life are virtues in woman, that would seem to be
of equal estimation with the barbarian and with the civilised ;
yet the ultimate destination of the inmates of these religious
houses was materially different.

The great establishment at Cuzco consisted wholly of
maidens of the royal blood, who amounted, it is said, to no
less than fifteen hundred. The provincial convents were
supplied from the daughters of the curacas and inferior nobles,
and occasionally, where a girl was recommended by great
personal attractions, from the lower classes of the people.4
The “ Houses of the Virgins of the Sun ” consisted of low
ranges of stone buildings, covering a large extent of ground,
surrounded by high walls, which excluded those within entirely

1 Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., MS.

2 Dec. de la Aud. Real., MS.

3 Balboa, Hist, du Perou, chap. ix. — Fernandez, Plist. del Peru, parte ii.
lib. iii. cap. xi. — Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. iv. cap. iii. Accord¬
ing to the historian of the Incas, the terrible penalty was never incurred by
a single lapse on the part of the fair sisterhood ; though, if it had been, the
sovereign, he assures us, would have “ exacted it to the letter, with as little
compunction as he would have drowned a puppy.” (Com. Real., parte i.
lib. iv. cap. iii.) Other writers contend, on the contrary, that these virgins
had very little claim to the reputation of vestals. (See Pedro Pizarro,
Descub. y Conq., MS. — Gomara, Hist, de las Ind., cap. cxxi.) Such im¬
putations are common enough on the inhabitants of religious houses, whether
pagan or Christian. They are contradicted in the present instance by the
concurrent testimony of most of those who had the best opportunity of
arriving at truth, and are made particularly improbable by the superstitious
reverence entertained for the Incas.

4 Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., MS. — Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte L
lib. iv. cap. i.

68 Conquest of Peru

from observation. They were provided with every accommo¬
dation for the fair inmates, and were embellished in the same
sumptuous and costly manner as the palaces of the Incas and
the temples; for they received the particular care of govern¬
ment, as an important part of the religious establishment.1

Yet the career of all the inhabitants of these cloisters was
not confined within their narrow walls. Though Virgins of the
Sun, they were brides of the Inca, and at a marriageable age
the most beautiful among them were selected for the honours
of his bed, and transferred to the royal seraglio. The full
complement of this amounted in time not only to hundreds, but
thousands, who all found accommodations in his different
palaces throughout the country. When the monarch was dis¬
posed to lessen the number of his establishment, the concubine
with whose society he was willing to dispense returned, not to
her former monastic residence, but to her own home ; where,
however humble might be her original condition, she was
maintained in great state, and far from being dishonoured by
the situation she had filled, was held in universal reverence as
the Inca's bride.2

The great nobles of Peru were allowed, like their sovereigns,
a plurality of wives. The people, generally, whether by law,
or by necessity stronger than law, were more happily limited to
one. Marriage was conducted in a manner that gave it quite
as original a character as belonged to the other institutions of
the country. On an appointed day of the year, all those of a
marriageable age — which, having reference to their ability to
take charge of a family, in the males was fixed at not less than
twenty-four years, and in the women at eighteen or twenty —
were called together in the great squares of their respective
towns and villages throughout the empire. The Inca presided
in person over the assembly of his own kindred, and taking the
hands of the different couples who were to be united, he
placed them within each other, declaring the parties man and
wife. The same was done by the curacas towards all persons of
their own or inferior degree in their several districts. This was
the simple form of marriage in Peru. No one was allowed to
select a wife beyond the community to which he belonged, which
generally comprehended all his own kindred;3 nor was any

1 Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. iv. cap. v, — Cieza de Leon,
Cronica, cap. xliv.

2 Dec. de la Aud. Real., MS. — Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. iv.
cap. iv. — Montesinos, Mem. Antig., MS., lib. ii. cap. xix.

a By the strict letter of the law, according to Garcilasso, no one was to
marry out of his own lineage. But this narrow rule had a most liberal

Civilisation of the Incas 69

but the sovereign authorised to dispense with the law of
nature — or, at least, the usual laws of nations — so far as to
marry his own sister.1 No marriage was esteemed valid with¬
out the consent of the parents ; and the preference of the
parties, it is said, was also to be consulted ; though, considering
the barriers imposed by the prescribed age of the candidates,
this must have been within rather narrow and whimsical limits.
A dwelling was got ready for the new-married pair at the
charge of the district, and the prescribed portion of land
assigned for their maintenance. The law of Peru provided for
the future, as well as for the present. It left nothing to
chance. The simple ceremony of marriage was followed by
general festivities among the friends of the parties, which
lasted several days ; and as every wedding took place on the
same day, and as there were few families who had not some one
of their members or their kindred personally interested, there
was one universal bridal jubilee throughout the empire.2

The extraordinary regulations respecting marriage under the
Incas are eminently characteristic of the genius of the govern¬
ment ; which, far from limiting itself to matters of public con¬
cern, penetrated into the most private recesses of domestic
life, allowing no man, however humble, to act for himself, even
in those personal matters in which none but himself, or
his family at most, might be supposed to be interested. No
Peruvian was too low for the fostering vigilance of government.
None was so high that he was not made to feel his dependence
upon it in every act of his life. His very existence as an
individual was absorbed in that of the community. His hopes
and his fears, his joys and his sorrows, the tenderest sympathies
of his nature, which would most naturally shrink from observ¬
ation, were all to be regulated by law. He was not allowed
even to be happy in his own way. The government of the
Incas was the mildest, but the most searching of despotisms.

interpretation, since all of the same town, and even province, he assures us,
were* reckoned of kin to one another. — Com. Real., parte i. lib. iv.
cap. viii.

1 This practice, so revolting to our feelings that it might well be deemed
to violate the law of nature, must not, however, be regarded as altogether
peculiar to the Incas, since it was countenanced by some of the most
polished nations of antiquity.

2 Ondegardo, Rel. Seg., MS. — Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. vi.
cap. xxxv i.— Dec. de la Aud. Real., MS. — Montesinos, Mem. Antiguas,
MS., lib. ii. cap. vi.

Conquest of Peru

CHAPTER IV

EDUCATION — QUIPUS — ASTRONOMY — AGRICULTURE —
AQUEDUCTS - GUANO - IMPORTANT ESCULENTS

“ Science was not intended for the people ; but for those of
generous blood. Persons of low degree are only puffed up
by it, and rendered vain and arrogant. Neither should such
meddle with the affairs of government ; for this would bring
high offices into disrepute, and cause detriment to the state.”1
Such was the favourite maxim, often repeated, of Tupac Inca
Yupanqui, one of the most renowned of the Peruvian sove¬
reigns. It may seem strange that such a maxim should ever
have been proclaimed in the New World, where popular
institutions have been established on a more extensive scale
than was ever before witnessed : where government rests wholly
on the people ; and education — at least, in the great northern
division of the continent — is mainly directed to qualify the
people for the duties of government. Yet this maxim was
strictly conformable to the genius of the Peruvian monarchy,
and may serve as a key to its habitual policy ; since, while it
watched with unwearied solicitude over its subjects, provided
for their physical necessities, was mindful of their morals, and
showed throughout the affectionate concern of a parent for his
children, it yet regarded them only as children, who were never
to emerge from the state of pupilage, to act or to think for
themselves, but whose whole duty was comprehended in the
obligation of implicit obedience.

Such was the humiliating condition of the people under the
Incas, while the numerous families of the blood royal enjoyed
the benefit of all the light of education, which the civilisation
of the country could afford ; and, long after the Conquest, the
spots continued to be pointed out where the seminaries had
existed for their instruction. These were placed under the
care of the amautas , or “ wise men,” who engrossed the scanty
stock of science — if science it could be called— possessed by

1 “ No es licito, que ensenen d los hijos de los plebeios las ciencias, que
pertenescen d los generosos, y no mas ; porque como gente baja, no se
eleven, y ensobervezcan, y menoscaben, y apoquen la republica : bastales
que aprendan los oficios de sus padres ; que el mandar y governar no es de
plebeios ; que es hacen agravio al oficio y a la republica, encomendarsela
a gente coraun.” — Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. viii. cap. viii.

Civilisation of the Incas 71

the Peruvians, and who were the sole teachers of youth. It
was natural that the monarch should take a lively interest in
the instruction of the young nobility, his own kindred. Several
of the Peruvian princes are said to have built their palaces in
the neighbourhood of the schools, in order that they might the
more easily visit them and listen to the lectures of their amautas,
which they occasionally reinforced by a homily of their own.1
In these schools the royal pupils were instructed in all the
different kinds of knowledge in which their teachers were
versed, with especial reference to the stations they were to
occupy in after life. They studied the laws, and the principles
of administering the government, in which many of them were
to take part. They were initiated in the peculiar rites of their
religion, most necessary to those who were to assume the
sacerdotal functions. They learned also to emulate the achieve¬
ments of their royal ancestors, by listening to the chronicles
compiled by the amautas. They were taught to speak their
own dialect with purity and elegance ; and they became
acquainted with the mysterious science of the quipus, which
supplied the Peruvians with the means of communicating
their ideas to one another, and of transmitting them to future
generations.2

The quipu was a cord about two feet long, composed of
different coloured threads tightly twisted together, from which
a quantity of smaller threads were suspended in the manner of
a fringe. The threads were of different colours and were tied
into knots ; the word quipu , indeed, signifies a knot . The
colours denoted sensible objects ; as, for instance, white re¬
presented silver, and yellow, gold. They sometimes also stood
for abstract ideas ; thus, white signified peace, and red, war.
But the quipus were chiefly used for arithmetical purposes.
The knots served instead of ciphers, and could be combined
in such a manner as to represent numbers to any amount they
required. By means of these they went through their calcula¬
tions with great rapidity, and the Spaniards who first visited
the country bear testimony to their accuracy.3

Officers were established in each of the districts, who, under
the title of quipucamayus , or “ keepers of the quipus,” were

1 The descendant of the Incas notices the remains, visible in his day, of
two of the palaces of his royal ancestors, which had been buiit in the
vicinity of the schools, for more easy access to them.

2 Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. iv. cap. xix.

3 Conq. i Fob. del Piru, MS.— Sarmiento, Relation, MS., cap. ix —
Acosta, lib. vi. cap. viii. — Garcilasso, parte i. lib. vi. cap. viii.

72 Conquest of Peru

required to furnish the government with information on various
important matters. One had charge of the revenues, reported
the quantity of raw material distributed among the labourers,
the quality and quantity of the fabrics made from it, and the
amount of stores, of various kinds, paid into the royal magazines.
Another exhibited the register of births and deaths, the mar¬
riages, the number of those qualified to bear arms, and the like
details in reference to the population of the kingdom. These
returns were annually forwarded to the capital, where they were
submitted to the inspection of officers acquainted with the art
of deciphering these mystic records. The government was
thus provided with a valuable mass of statistical information ;
and the skeins of many-coloured threads, collected and care¬
fully preserved, constituted what might be called the national
archives.1

But, although the quipus sufficed for all the purposes of
arithmetical computation demanded by the Peruvians, they
were incompetent to represent the manifold ideas and images
which are expressed by writing. Even here, however, the
invention was not without its use. For, independently of the
direct representation of simple objects, and even of abstract
ideas, to a very limited extent, as above noticed, it afforded
great help to the memory by way of association. The peculiar
knot or colour, in this way, suggested what it could not venture
to represent ; in the same manner — to borrow the homely
illustration of an old writer — as the number of the Command¬
ment calls to mind the Commandment itself. The quipus,
thus used, might be regarded as the Peruvian system of
mnemonics.

Annalists were appointed in each of the principal com¬
munities, whose business it was to record the most important
events which occurred in them. Other functionaries of a
higher character, usually the amautas, were entrusted with the

1 Ondegardo expresses his astonishment at the variety of objects em¬
braced by these simple records, “ hardly credible by one who had not seen
them.” “ En aquella ciudad se hallaron muchos viejos oficiales antiguos
del Inga, asi de la religion, como del govierno, y otra cosa que no pudiera
creer sino la viera, que por hilos y nudos se hallan figuradas las leyes y
estatutos asi de lo uno como de lo otro, y las sucesiones de los reves y ti-
empo que governaron : y hallose lo que todo esto tenian 6. su cargo que no
fue poco, y aun tube alguna claridad de los estatutos que en tiempo de cada
uno se havian puesta.” (Rel. Prim., MS. See also Sarmiento, Relacion,
MS., cap. ix. — Acosta, lib, vi. cap. viii. — Garcilasso, parte i. lib. vi. cap.
viii. ix.) A vestige of the quipus is still to be found in some parts of Peru,
where the shepherds keep the tallies of their numerous flocks by means of
this ancient arithmetic.

Civilisation of the Incas 73

history of the empire, and were selected to chronicle the great
deeds of the reigning Inca or of his ancestors.1 The narrative
thus concocted, could be communicated only by oral tradition ;
but the quipus served the chronicler to arrange the incidents
with method, and to refresh his memory. The story, once
treasured up in the mind, was indelibly impressed there by
frequent repetition. It was repeated by the amauta to his
pupils ; and in this way history, conveyed partly by oral
tradition, and partly by arbitrary signs, was handed down from
generation to generation, with sufficient discrepancy of details,
but with a general conformity of outline to the truth.

The Peruvian quipus were, doubtless, a wretched substitute
for that beautiful contrivance, the alphabet, which, employing
a few simple characters as the representatives of sounds instead
of ideas, is able to convey the most delicate shades of thought
that ever passed through the mind of man. The Peruvian
invention, indeed, was far below that of the hieroglyphics, even
below the rude picture-writing of the Aztecs ; for the latter art,
however incompetent to convey abstract ideas, could depict
sensible objects with tolerable accuracy. It is evidence of the
total ignorance in which the two nations remained of each
other, that the Peruvians should have borrowed nothing of the
hieroglyphical system of the Mexicans, and this, notwithstand¬
ing that the existence of the maguey plant {agave) in South
America might have furnished them with the very material
used by the Aztecs for the construction of their maps.2

It is impossible to contemplate without interest the struggles
made by different nations, as they emerge from barbarism, to
supply themselves with some visible symbols of thought — that
mysterious agency by which the mind of the individual may
be put in communication with the minds of a whole community.
The want of such a symbol is itself the greatest impediment to
the progress of civilisation ; for what is it but to imprison the
thought, which has the elements of immortality, within the
bosom of its author, or of the small circle who come in contact
with him, instead of sending it abroad to give light to thou¬
sands, and to generations yet unborn ! Not only is such a
symbol an essential element of civilisation, but it may be

1 Rel. Prim., MS., ubi supra.

2 Rel. Prim., MS., ubi supra. — Dec. de la Aud. Real., MS. — Sarmiento,
Relacion, MS., cap. ix. Yet the quipus must be allowed to bear some
resemblance to the belts of wampum — made of coloured beads strung
together — in familiar use among the North American tribes, for com¬
memorating treaties, and for other purposes.

74 Conquest of Peru

assumed as the very criterion of civilisation ; for the intellectual
advancement of a people will keep pace pretty nearly with its
facilities for intellectual communication.

Yet we must be careful not to underrate the real value of the
Peruvian system ; nor to suppose that the quipus were as
awkward an instrument, in the hand of a practised native, as
they would be in ours. We know the effect of habit in all
mechanical operations, and the Spaniards bear constant testi¬
mony to the adroitness and accuracy of the Peruvians in this.
Their skill is not more surprising than the facility with which
habit enables us to master the contents of a printed page,
comprehending thousands of separate characters, by a single
glance, as it were, though each character must require a
distinct recognition by the eye, and that too without breaking
the chain of thought in the reader’s mind. We must not hold
the invention of the quipus too lightly, when we reflect that
they supplied the means of calculation demanded for the
affairs of a great nation, and that, however insufficient, they
afforded no little help to what aspired to the credit of literary
composition.

The office of recording the national annals was not wholly
confined to the amautas ; it was assumed in part by the
haravecs , or poets, who selected the most brilliant incidents
for their songs or ballads, which were chanted at the royal
festivals and at the table of the Inca.1 In this manner, a body
of traditionary minstrelsy grew up, like the British and Spanish
ballad poetry, by means of which the name of many a rude
chieftain, that might have perished for want of a chronicler,
has been borne down the tide of rustic melody to later
generations.

Yet history may be thought not to gain much by this alliance
with poetry ; for the domain of the poet extends over an ideal
realm peopled with the shadowy forms of fancy, that bear
little resemblance to the rude realities of life. The Peruvian
annals may be deemed to show somewhat of the effects of this
union, since there is a tinge of the marvellous spread over
them down to the very latest period, which, like a mist before
the leader's eye, makes it difficult to distinguish between fact
and fiction.

The poet found a convenient instrument for his purposes in
the beautiful Quichua dialect. We have already seen the

1 The word haravec signified “inventor” or “finder” ; and in his title,
as well as in his functions, the minstrel poet may remind us of the Norman
t rouvere.

Civilisation of the Incas 75

extraordinary measures taken by the Incas for propagating
their language throughout their empire. Thus naturalised in
the remotest provinces, it became enriched by a variety of
exotic words' and idioms, which, under the influence of the
court and of poetic culture, if I may so express myself, was
gradually blended, like some finished mosaic made up of
coarse and disjointed materials, into one harmonious whole.
The Quichua became the most comprehensive and various, as
well as the most elegant of the South American dialects.1

Besides the compositions already noticed, the Peruvians, it
is said, showed some talent for theatrical exhibitions ; not those
barren pantomimes which, addressed simply to the eye, have
formed the amusement of more than one rude nation. The
Peruvian pieces aspired to the rank of dramatic compositions,
sustained by character and dialogue, founded sometimes on
themes of tragic interest, and at others on such as, from their
light and social character, belong to comedy.2 Of the execution
of these pieces we have now no means of judging. It was
probably rude enough, as befitted an unformed people ; but
whatever may have been the execution, the mere conception
of such an amusement is a proof of refinement that honourably
distinguishes the Peruvian from the other American races, whose
pastime was war, or the ferocious sports that reflect the image
of it.

The intellectual character of the Peruvians, indeed, seems to
have been marked rather by a tendency to refinement than by
those hardier qualities which insure success in the severer
walks of science. In these they were behind several of the
semi-civilised nations of the New World. They had some
acquaintance with geography, so far as related to their own

1 Ondegardo, Rel. Prim., MS. Sarmiento justly laments that his
countrymen should have suffered this dialect, which might have proved
so serviceable in their intercourse with the motley tribes of the empire, to
fall so much out of use as it has done. “ Y con tanto digo que fue harto
beneficio para los Espanoles haver csta lengua, pues podian con ella andar
por todas partes, en algunas de las quales ya se va perdiendo. ” — Relacion,
MS., cap. xxi. According to Velasco, the Incas, on arriving with their
conquering legions at Quito, were astonished to find a dialect of the Quichua
spoken there, although it was unknown over much of the intermediate
country ; a singular fact if true. (Hist, de Quito, tom. i. p. 185.) The
author, a native of that country, had access to some rare sources of inform¬
ation ; and his curious volumes show an intimate analogy between the
science and social institutions of the people of Quito and Peru. Yet his
book betrays an obvious anxiety to set the pretensions of his own country
in the most imposing point of view, and he frequently hazards assertions
with a confidence that is not well calculated to secure that of his readers.

2 Garcilasso, Com. Real., ubi supra.

76 Conquest of Peru

empire, which was indeed extensive; and they constructed
maps with lines raised on them to denote the boundaries and
localities, on a similar principle with those formerly used by
the blind. In astronomy they appear to have made but
moderate proficiency. They divided the year into twelve
lunar months, each of which, having its own name, was dis¬
tinguished by its appropriate festival.1 They had also weeks ;
but of what length, whether of seven, nine, or ten days, is
uncertain. As their lunar year would necessarily fail short
of the true time, they rectified their calendar by solar observa¬
tions made by means of a number of cylindrical columns raised
on the high lands round Cuzco, which served them for taking
azimuths ; and by measuring their shadows they ascertained
the exact times of the solstices. The period of the equinoxes
they determined by the help of a solitary pillar or gnomon
placed in the centre of a circle which was described in the
area of the great temple, and traversed by a diameter that was
drawn from east to west. When the shadows were scarcely
visible under the noontide rays of the sun, they said that “ the
god sat with all his light upon the column.7’ 2 Quito, which
lay immediately under the equator, where the vertical rays of
the sun threw no shadow at noon, was held in especial venera¬
tion, as the favoured abode of the great deity. The period of
the equinoxes was celebrated by public rejoicings. The pillar
was crowned by the golden chair of the Sun, and, both then
and at the solstices, the columns were hung with garlands, and
offerings of flowers and fruits were made, while high festival was
kept throughout the empire. By these periods the Peruvians
regulated their religious rites and ceremonial, and prescribed
the nature of their agricultural labours. The year itself took
its departure from the date of the winter solstice.3 * * *

1 Ondegardo, Rel. Prim., MS. Fernandez, who differs from most
authorities in dating the commencement of the year from June, gives the
names of the several months, with their appropriate occupations. — Hist,
del Peru, parte ii. lib. iii. cap. x.

2 Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. ii. cap. xxii.-xxvi. The Spanish
cono^erors threw down these pillars, as savouring of idolatry in the Indians.

Which of the two were best entitled to the name of barbarians?

a Betanzos, Nar. de los Ingas, MS., cap. xvi. — Sarmiento, Relacion,

MS., cap. xxiii. — Acosta, lib. vi. cap. iii. The most celebrated gnomon

in Europe, that raised on the dome of the metropolitan church of Florence,
was erected by the famous Toscanelli — for the purpose of determining the
solstices, and regulating the festivals of the Church — about the year 1468 ;
perhaps at no very distant date from that of the similar astronomical
contrivance of the American Indian. See Tiraboschi, Historia della

Letteratura Italiana, tom. vi. lib. ii. cap. ii. sec. xxxviii.

Civilisation of the Incas 77

This meagre account embraces nearly all that has come
down to us of Peruvian astronomy. It may seem strange that
a nation which had proceeded thus far in its observations,
should have gone no further ; and that, notwithstanding its
general advance in civilisation, it should in this science have
fallen so far short, not only of the Mexicans but of the
Muyscas, inhabiting the same elevated regions of the great
southern plateau with themselves. These latter regulated their
calendar on the same general plan of cycles and periodical
series as the Aztecs, approaching yet nearer to the system
pursued by the people of Asia.1

It might have been expected that the Incas, the boasted
Children of the Sun, would have made a particular study of
the phenomena of the heavens, and have constructed a
calendar on principles as scientific as that of their semi-
civilised neighbours. One historian, indeed, assures us that
they threw their years into cycles of ten, a hundred, and a
thousand years, and that by these cycles they regulated their
chronology.2 But this assertion, not improbable in itself, rests
on a writer but little gifted with the spirit of criticism, and is
counterbalanced by the silence of every higher and earlier
authority, as well as by the absence of any monument, like
those found among other American nations, to attest the
existence of such a calendar. The inferiority of the Peruvians
may be perhaps in part explained by the fact of their priest¬
hood being drawn exclusively from the body of the Incas, a
privileged order of nobility, who had no need by the assump¬
tion of superior learning to fence themselves round from the
approaches of the vulgar. The little true science possessed
by the Aztec priest supplied him with a key to unlock the
mysteries of the heavens, and the false system of astrology

1 A tolerably meagre account — yet as full, probably, as authorities could
warrant — of this interesting people has been given by Piedrahita, Bishop
of Panama, in the first two books of his Historia Geneial de las Conquistas
del Nuevo Regno de Granada (Madrid, 1688). M. de Humboldt was
fortunate in obtaining a MS., composed by a Spanish ecclesiastic resident
in Santa Fe de Bogota, in relation to the Muysca calendar, of which the
Prussian philosopher has given a large and luminous analysis. — Vues des
Cordilleres, p. 244.

2 Montesinos, Mem. Antiguas, MS., lib. ii. cap. vii. “ Renovo la
computacion de los tiempos, que se iba perdiendo, y se contaron en su
reynado los afios por 365 dias y seis horas ; i los afios afiadid decadas de
diez aftos, a cada diez decadas una centuria de 100 afios, y a cada diez
centurias una capachoata 6 jutiphuacan, que son 1000 afios, que quiere
decir el grande afio del sol ; asi contaban los siglos y los sucesos memorables
de sus reyes.” — Ibid., loc. cit.

78 Conquest of Peru

which he built upon it gave him credit as a being who had
something of divinity in his own nature. But the Inca noble
was divine by birth ; the illusory study of astrology, so capti¬
vating to the unenlightened mind, engaged no share of his
attention ; the only persons in Peru who claimed the power of
reading the mysterious future were the diviners, men who,
combining with their pretensions some skill in the healing art,
resembled the conjurors found among many of the Indian
tribes. But the office was held in little repute, except among
the lower classes, and was abandoned to those whose age and
infirmity disqualified them for the real business of life.1

The Peruvians had knowledge of one or two constellations,
and watched the motions of the planet Venus, to which, as we
have seen, they dedicated altars. But their ignorance of the
first principles of astronomical science is shown by their ideas
of eclipses, which, they supposed, denoted some great derange¬
ment of the planet ; and when the moon laboured under one of
these mysterious infirmities, they sounded their instruments,
and filled the air with shouts and lamentations, to rouse her
from her lethargy. Such puerile conceits as these form a
striking contrast with the real knowledge of the Mexicans, as
displayed in their hieroglyphical maps, in which the true cause
of this phenomenon is plainly depicted.2

But, if less successful in exploring the heavens, the Incas
must be admitted to have surpassed every other American race
in their dominion over the earth. Husbandry was pursued by
them on principles that may be truly called scientific. It was
the basis of their political institutions. Having no foreign
commerce, it was agriculture that furnished them with the
means of their internal exchanges, their substance, and their
revenues. We have seen their remarkable provisions for dis¬
tributing the land in equal shares among the people, while
they required every man, except the privileged orders, to assist
in its cultivation. The Inca himself did not disdain to set the
example. On one of the great annual festivals, he proceeded
to the environs of Cuzco, attended by his court, and, in the
presence of all the people, turned up the earth with a golden

1 “ Ansi mismo les hicieron senalar gente para hechizeros que tambien

es entre ellos, oficio publico y conoscido en todos, . los disputados

para ello no lo tenian por travajo, porque ninguno podia tener semejante
oficio corao los dichos sino fuesen viejos e viejas, y personas inaviles para
travajar, como mancos, cojos, 6 contrechos, y gente asi a quien faltava las
fuerzas para ello.” — Ondegardo, Rel. Seg. , MS.

2 See Codex Tel. -Remensis, part iv. pi. xxii., ap. Antiquities of Mexico,
vol. i. (London, 1829.)

Civilisation of the Incas 79

plough, — or an instrument that served as such, — thus conse¬
crating the occupation of the husbandman as one worthy to
be followed by the Children of the Sun.1

The patronage of the government did not stop with this
cheap display of royal condescension, but was shown in the
most efficient measures for facilitating the labours of the
husbandman. Much of the country along the sea-coast
suffered from want of water, as little or no rain fell there, and
the few streams, in their short and hurried course from the
mountains, exerted only a very limited influence on the wide
extent of territory. The soil, it is true, was, for the most part,
sandy and sterile ; but many places were capable of being
reclaimed, and, indeed, needed only to be properly irrigated
to be susceptible of extraordinary production. To these spots
water was conveyed by means of canals and subterraneous
aqueducts, executed on a noble scale. They consisted of large
slabs of freestone, nicely fitted together without cement, and
discharged a volume of water sufficient, by means of latent
ducts or sluices, to moisten the lands in the lower level, through
which they passed. Some of these aqueducts were of great
length. One, that traversed the district of Condesuyu, measured
between four and five hundred miles. They were brought
from some elevated lake or natural reservoir in the heart of
the mountains, and were fed at intervals by other basins which
lay in their route along the slopes of the sierra. In this
descent a passage was sometimes to be opened through rocks,
and this without the aid of iron tools ; impracticable mountains
were to be turned ; rivers and marshes to be crossed ; in short,
the same obstacles were to be encountered as in the construc¬
tion of their mighty roads. But the Peruvians seemed to take
pleasure in wrestling with the difficulties of nature. Near
Caxamarca a tunnel is still visible, which they excavated in
the mountains, to give an outlet to the waters of a lake, when
they rose to a height in the rainy seasons that threatened the
country with inundation.2

1 Sarmiento, Relacion, MS., cap. xvi. The nohles, also, it seems, at
this high festival, imitated the example of their master. “ Pasadas todas
las fiestas, en la ultima llevavan muchos arados de manos, los quales,
antiguamente heran de oro ; i echos los oficios, tomava el Inga un arado
i comenzava con el & romper la tierra, i lo mismo los demas seftores, para
que de alii adelante en todo su sefiorio hiciesen lo mismo ; i sin que el Inga
hiciese esto, no avia Indio que osase romper la tierra, ni pensavan que
produjese si el Inga no la rompia primero, i esto vaste quanto & las
fiestas.”— Conq. i Pob. del Piru, MS.

2 Sarmiento, Relacion, MS., cap. xxi. — Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte L

Conquest of Peru

Most of these beneficent works of the Incas were suffered to
go to decay by their Spanish conquerors. In some spots, the
waters are still left to flow in their silent subterraneous channels,
whose windings and whose sources have been alike unexplored.
Others, though partially dilapidated, and closed up with
rubbish, and the rank vegetation of the soil, still betray their
course by occasional patches of fertility. Such are the
remains in the valley of Nasca, a fruitful spot that lies between
long tracts of desert, where the ancient water-courses of the
Incas, measuring four or five feet in depth by three in wddth,
and formed of large blocks of uncemented masonry, are
conducted from an unknown distance.

The greatest care was taken that every occupant of the land
through which these streams passed should enjoy the benefit
of them. The quantity of water allotted to each wras
prescribed by law7 ; and royal overseers superintended the
distribution, and saw that it was faithfully applied to the
irrigation of the ground.1

The Peruvians showed a similar spirit of enterprise in their
schemes for introducing cultivation into the mountainous parts
of their domain. Many of the hills, though covered with a
strong soil, were too precipitous to be tilled. These they cut
into terraces, faced with rough stone, diminishing in regular
gradation towards the summit ; so that, while the lower strip,
or anden , as it was called by the Spaniards, that belted round
the base of the mountain, might comprehend hundreds of
acres, the uppermost was only large enough to accommodate a
few rows of Indian corn.2 Some of the eminences presented
such a mass of solid rock, that, after being hewn into terraces,

lib. v. cap. xxiv. — Stevenson, Narrative of a Twenty Years’ Residence in
S. America, (London, 1829,) vol. i. p. 412; ii. pp. 173, 174. “ Sacauan

acequias en cabos y por partes que es cosa estrana afirmar lo ; porque las
echauan por lugares altos y baxos : y por laderas de los cabeyos y haldas
de sierras q estan en los valles ; y por ellos mismos atrauiessan rnuchas,
unas por una parte, y otras por otra, que es gran delectacio caminar por
aquellos valles, porque parece que se anda entre huertas y fiorestas llenas
de frescuras.” — Cieza de Leon, Cronica, cap. lxvi.

1 Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., MS. — Memoirs of Gen. Miller, vol.
ii. p. 220.

2 Miller supposes that it was from these andenes that the Spaniards gave
the name of Andes to the South American Cordilleras. (Memoirs of Gen.
Miller, vol. ii. p. 219.) But the name is older than the Conquest,
according to Garcilasso, who traces it to Anti , the name of a province that
lay east of Cuzco. (Com. Real., parte i. lib. ii. cap. xi.) Anta, the word
for copper, which was found abundant in certain quarters of the country,
may have suggested the name of the province, if not immediately that of
the mountains.

Civilisation of the Incas 81

they were obliged to be covered deep with earth, before they
could serve the purpose of the husbandman. With such
patient toil did the Peruvians combat the formidable ob¬
stacles presented by the face of their country ! Without the
use of the tools or the machinery familiar to the European,
each individual could have done little ; but acting in large
masses, and under a common direction, they were enabled
by indefatigable perseverance to achieve results, to have
attempted which might have filled even the European with
dismay. 1

In the same spirit of economical husbandry which redeemed
the rocky sierra from the curse of sterility, they dug below the
arid soil of the valleys, and sought for a stratum where some
natural moisture might be found. These excavations, called
by the Spaniards hoy as, or “pits,” were made on a great scale,
comprehending frequently more than an acre, sunk to the
depth of fifteen or twenty feet, and fenced round within by a
wall of adobes , or bricks baked in the sun. The bottom of the
excavation, well prepared by a rich manure of the sardines, — a
small fish obtained in vast quantities along the coast, — was
planted with some kind of grain or vegetable.2

The Peruvian farmers were well acquainted with the
different kinds of manures, and made large use of them ; a
circumstance rare in the rich lands of the tropics, and
probably not elsewhere practised by the rude tribes of
America, They made great use of guano, the valuable deposit
of sea-fowl, that has attracted so much attention, of late, from
the agriculturists both of Europe and of our own country, and
the stimulating and nutritious properties of which the Indians
perfectly appreciated. This was found in such immense
quantities on many of the little islands along the coast, as to
have the appearance of lofty hills, which, covered with a white
saline incrustation, led the Conquerors to give them the name
of the sierra nevada , or “ snowy mountains.”

The Incas took their usual precautions for securing the
benefits of this important article to the husbandman. They
assigned the small islands on the coast to the use of the
respective districts which lay adjacent to them. When the

1 Memoirs of Gen. Miller, ubi supra. — Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i.
lib. v. cap. i.

2 Cieza de Leon, Cronica, cap. lxxiii. The remains of these ancient
excavations still excite the wonder of the modern traveller. See Stevenson,
Residence in S. America, vol. i. p. 359 ; — Also M‘Culloch, Researches, p
35S.

Conquest of Peru

island was large it was distributed among several districts, and
the boundaries for each were clearly defined. All encroachment
on the rights of another was severely punished. And they
secured the preservation of the fowl by penalties as stern as
those by which the Norman tyrants of England protected their
own game. No one was allowed to set foot on the island
during the season for breeding, under pain of death ; and to
kill the birds at any time was punished in the like manner.1

With this advancement in agricultural science, the Peruvians
might be supposed to have had some knowledge of the plough,
in such general use among the primitive nations of the eastern
continent. But they had neither the iron ploughshare of the
Old World, nor had they animals for draught, which, indeed,
were nowhere found in the New. The instrument which they
used was a strong sharp-pointed stake, traversed by a horizontal
piece, ten or twelve inches from the point, on which the
ploughman might set his foot and force it into the ground.
Six or eight strong men were attached by ropes to the stake,
and dragged it forcibly along, — pulling together, and keeping
time as they were moved by chanting their national songs, in
which they were accompanied by the women, who followed in
their train to break up the sods with their rakes. The mellow
soil offered slight resistance ; and the labourer, by long
practice, acquired a dexterity which enabled him to turn up
the ground to the requisite depth with astonishing facility.
This substitute for the plough was but a clumsy contrivance ;
yet it is curious as the only specimen of the kind among the
American aborigines, and was perhaps not much inferior to
the wooden instrument introduced in its stead by the
European conquerors.2

It was frequently the policy of the Incas, after providing a
desert tract with the means for irrigation, and thus fitting it for
the labours of the husbandman, to transplant there a colony of
mitimaes , who brought it under cultivation by raising the
crops best suited to the soil. While the peculiar character and
capacity of the lands were thus consulted, a means of exchange
of the different products was afforded to the neighbouring
provinces, which, from the formation of the country, varied
much more than usual within the same limits. To facilitate
these agricultural exchanges, fairs were instituted, which took
place three times a month in some of the most populous places,

1 Acosta, lib. iv. cap. xxxvi. ; — Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. v.
cap. iii.

* Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. v. cap. ii-

Civilisation of the Incas 83

where, as money was unknown, a rude kind of commerce was
kept up by the barter of their respective products. These fairs
afforded so many holidays for the relaxation of the industrious
labourer.1

Such were the expedients adopted by the Incas for the
improvement of their territory ; and, although imperfect, they
must be allowed to show an acquaintance with the principles of
agricultural science that gives them some claim to the rank of
a civilised people. Under their patient and discriminating
culture, every inch of good soil was tasked to its greatest power
of production, while the most unpromising spots were com¬
pelled to contribute something to the subsistence of the people.
Everywhere the land teemed with evidence of agricultural
wealth, from the smiling valleys along the coast to the terraced
steeps of the sierra, which, rising into pyramids of verdure,
glowed with all the splendours of tropical vegetation.

The formation of the country was particularly favourable, as
already remarked, to an infinite variety of products, not so
much from its extent as from its various elevations, which,
more remarkable even than those in Mexico, comprehend
every degree of latitude from the equator to the polar regions.
Vet, though the temperature changes in this region with the
degree of elevation, it remains nearly the same in the same
spots throughout the year ; and the inhabitant feels none of
those grateful vicissitudes of season which belong to the tem¬
perate latitudes of the globe. Thus, while the summer lies in
full power on the burning regions of the palm and the cocoa-
tree that fringe the borders of the ocean, the broad surface of
the table-land blooms with the freshness of perpetual spring,
and the higher summits of the Cordilleras are white with
everlasting winter.

The Peruvians turned this fixed variety of climate, if I may
so say, to the best account, by cultivating the productions
appropriate to each ; and they particularly directed their
attention to those which afforded the most nutriment to man.
Thus, in the lower level were to be found the cassava-tree and
the banana, that bountiful plant which seems to have relieved
man from the primeval curse — if it were not rather a blessing —
of toiling for his sustenance.2 As the banana faded from the

1 Sarmiento, Relacion, MS., cap. xix. — Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i.
lib. vi. cap. xxxvi. ; lib. vii. cap. i. — Herrera, Hist. General, dec. v. lib. iv.
cap. iii.

2 The prolific properties of the banana are shown by M. de Humboldt,
who states that its productiveness, as compared with that of wheat, is as

84 Conquest of Peru

landscape, a good substitute was found in the maize, the great
agricultural staple of both the northern and southern divisions
of the American continent ; and which, after its exportation to
the Old World, spread so rapidly there, as to suggest the
idea of its being indigenous to it.1 The Peruvians were well
acquainted with the different modes of preparing this useful
vegetable, though it seems they did not use it for bread, except
at festivals ; and they extracted a sort of honey from the stalk,
and made an intoxicating liquor from the fermented grain, to
which, like the Aztecs, they were immoderately addicted.2

The temperate climate of the table-land furnished them with
the maguey {Agave ai?ierica?ia ), many of the extraordinary
qualities of which they comprehended, though not its most
important one of affording a material for paper. Tobacco, too,
was among the products of this elevated region. Yet the
Peruvians differed from every other Indian nation to whom it
was known, by using it only for medicinal purposes, in the form
of snuff.3 They may have found a substitute for its narcotic
qualities in the coca ( Erythroxylum peruvianuni), or cuca , as
called by the natives. This is a shrub which grows to the
height of a man. The leaves when gathered are dried in the
sun, and, being mixed with a little lime, form a preparation for
chewing, much like the betel-leaf of the East.4 With a small
supply of this cuca in his pouch, and a handful of roasted
maize, the Peruvian Indian of our time performs his wearisome
journeys, day after day, without fatigue, or, at least, without
complaint. Even food the most invigorating is less grateful to
him than his loved narcotic. Under the Incas, it is said to

133 to I, and with that of the potato, as 44 to 1. It is a mistake to
suppose that this plant was not indigenous to South America. The banana-
leaf has been frequently found in ancient Peruvian tombs.

1 The misnomer of bll de Turquie shows the popular error. Yet the
rapidity of its diffusion through Europe and Asia, after the discovery of
America, is of itself sufficient to show that it could not have been indigenous
to the Old World, and have so long remained generally unknown there.

2 The saccharine matter contained in the maize stalk is much greater
in tropical countries than in more northern latitudes, so that the natives
in the former may be seen sometimes sucking it like the sugar-cane.
One kind of the fermented liquors, sora, made from the corn, was of such
strength that the use of it was forbidden by the Incas, at least to the
common people. Their injunctions do not seem to have been obeyed so
implicitly in this instance as usual.

3 Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. ii. cap. xxv.

4 The pungent leaf of the betel was in like manner mixed with lime when
chewed. — (Elphinstone, History of India, [London, 1841,] vol. i. p. 331.)
The similarity of this social indulgence, in the remote East and West, is
singular.

Civilisation of the Incas 85

have been exclusively reserved for the noble orders. If so, the
people gained one luxury by the Conquest ; and, after that
period, it was so extensively used by them, that this article
constituted a most important item of the colonial revenue of
Spain.1 Yet, with the soothing charms of an opiate, this
weed, so much vaunted by the natives, when used to excess,
is said to be attended, with all the mischievous effects of
habitual intoxication.2

Higher up on the slopes of the Cordilleras, beyond the
limits of the maize and of the quinoa , a grain bearing some
resemblance to rice, and largely cultivated by the Indians, was
to be found the potato, the introduction of which into Europe
has made an era in the history of agriculture. Whether in¬
digenous to Peru, or imported from the neighbouring country
of Chili, it formed the great staple of the more elevated plains
under the Incas, and its culture was continued to a height in
the equatorial regions which reached many thousand feet
above the limits of perpetual snow in the temperate latitudes
of Europe.3 Wild specimens of the vegetable might be seen
still higher, springing up spontaneously amidst the stunted
shrubs that clothed the lofty sides of the Cordilleras, till these
gradually subsided into the mosses and the short yellow grass,
pajonal, , which, like a golden carpet, was unrolled around the
base of the mighty cones that rose far into the regions of
eternal silence, covered with the snows of centuries.4

1 Ondegardo, Rel. Seg., MS. — Acosta, lib. iv. cap. xxii. — Stevenson,

: Residence in S. America, vol. ii. p. 63. — Cieza de Leon, Cronica,

I cap. xcvi.

2 A traveller (Poeppig) noticed in the Foreign Quarterly Review
! (No. xxxiii.) expatiates on the malignant effects of the habitual use of the

cue a, as very similar to those produced on the chewer of opium Strange
that such baneful properties should not be the subject of more frequent
comment with other writers ! I do not remember to have seen them even
adverted to.

3 Malte-Brun, book lxxxvi. The potato, found by the early discoverers
in Chili, Peru, New Granada, and all along the Cordilleras of South
America, was unknown in Mexico, — an additional proof of the entire ignor¬
ance in which the respective nations of the two continents remained of one
another. M. de Humboldt, who has bestowed much attention on the early
history of this vegetable, which has exerted so important an influence on
European society, supposes that the cultivation of it in Virginia, where it
was known to the early planters, must have been originally derived from
the southern Spanish colonies. — Essai Politique, tom. ii. p. 462.

4 While Peru, under the Incas, could boast these indigenous products,
and many others less familiar to the European, it was unacquainted with
several of great importance, which, since the Conquest, have thriven there
as on their natural soil. Such are the olive, the grape, the fig, the apple,
the orange, the sugar-cane. None of the cereal grains of the Old World

Conquest of Peru

chapter v

PERUVIAN SHEEP - GREAT HUNTS - MANUFACTURES - MECHANI¬

CAL SKILL — ARCHITECTURE — CONCLUDING REFLECTIONS

A nation which had made such progress in agriculture
might be reasonably expected to have made, also, some pro¬
ficiency in the mechanical arts, especially when, as in the
case of the Peruvians, their agricultural economy demanded in
itself no inconsiderable degree of mechanical skill. Among
most nations, progress in manufactures has been found to have
an intimate connection with the progress of husbandry. Both
arts are directed to the same great object of supplying the
necessaries, the comforts, or in a more refined condition of
society, the luxuries of life ; and when the one is brought to a
perfection that infers a certain advance in civilisation, the other
must naturally find a corresponding development under the
increasing demands and capacities of such a state. The sub¬
jects of the Incas, in their patient and tranquil devotion to the
more humble occupations of industry which bound them to
their native soil, bore greater resemblance to the Oriental
nations, as the Hindoos and Chinese, than they bore to the
members of the great Anglo-Saxon family, whose hardy temper
has driven them to seek their fortunes on the stormy ocean,
and to open a commerce with the most distant regions of the
globe. The Peruvians, though lining a long extent of sea-
coast, had no foreign commerce.

They had peculiar advantages for domestic manufacture in
a material incomparably superior to anything possessed by the
other races of the Western continent. They found a good
substitute for linen in a fabric which, like the Aztecs, they knew
how to weave from the tough thread of the maguey. Cotton
grew luxuriantly on the low, sultry level of the coast, and fur¬
nished them with a clothing suitable to the milder latitudes of
the country. But from the llama and the kindred species of
Peruvian sheep they obtained a fleece adapted to the colder

were found there. The first wheat was introduced by a Spanish lady of
Trujillo, who took great pains to disseminate it among the colonists, of
which the government, to its credit, was not unmindful. Her name was
Maria de Escobar. History, which is so much occupied with celebrating
the scourges of humanity, should take pleasure in commemorating one of
its real benefactors.

Civilisation of the Incas 87

climate of the table-land, “more estimable,” to quote the
language of a well-informed writer, “than the down of the
Canadian beaver, the fleece of the brebis des Calmoucks , or of
the Syrian goat.” 1

Of the four varieties of the Peruvian sheep, the llama, the
one most familiarly known, is the least valuable on account of
its wool. It is chiefly employed as a beast of burden, for which,
although it is somewhat larger than any of the other varieties,
its diminutive size and strength would seem to disqualify it. It
carries a load of little more than a hundred pounds, and cannot
travel above three or four leagues in a day. But all this is
compensated by the little care and cost required for its manage¬
ment and its maintenance. It picks up an easy subsistence
from the moss and stunted herbage that grows scantily along
the withered sides and the steeps of the Cordilleras. The
structure of its stomach, like that of the camel, is such as to
enable it to dispense with any supply of water for weeks, nay,
months together. Its spongy hoof, armed with a claw or
pointed talon to enable it to take secure hold on the ice, never
requires to be shod ; and the load laid upon its back rests
securely in its bed of wool, without the aid of girth or saddle.
The llamas move in troops of five hundred or even a thousand,
and thus, though each individual carries but little, the aggregate
is considerable. The whole caravan travels on at its regular
pace, passing the night in the open air without suffering from
the coldest temperature, and marching in perfect order, and in
obedience to the voice of the driver. It is only when over¬
loaded that the spirited little animal refuses to stir, and neither
blows nor caresses can induce him to rise from the ground.
He is as sturdy in asserting his rights on this occasion, as he is
usually docile and unresisting.2

The employment of domestic animals distinguished the
Peruvians from the other races of the New World. This
economy of human labour by the substitution of the brute is
an important element of civilisation, inferior only to what is
gained by the substitution of machinery for both. Yet the
ancient Peruvians seem to have made much less account of it

1 Walton, Historical and Descriptive Account of the Peruvian Sheep,
(London, i8n,)p. 1 1 5. This writer’s comparison is directed to the wool
of the vicuna, the most esteemed of the genus for its fleece.

2 Ibid., p. 23, et seq. — Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. viii. cap.
xvi. — Acosta, lib. iv. cap. xli. Llama, according to Garcilasso de la Vega,
is a Peruvian word signifying “flock.” (Ibid., ubi supra.) The natives
got no milk from their domesticated animals ; nor was milk used, I believe,
by any tribe on the American continent.

88 Conquest of Peru

than their Spanish conquerors, and to have valued the llama,
in common with the other animals of that genus, chiefly for its
fleece. Immense herds of these “large cattle,” as they were
called, and of the “ smaller cattle,” 1 or alpacas, were held by the
government, as already noticed, and placed under the direction
of shepherds, who conducted them from one quarter of the
country to another, according to the changes of the season.
These migrations were regulated with all the precision with
which the code of the mesta determined the migrations of the
vast merino flocks in Spain ; and the Conquerors, when they
landed in Peru, were amazed at finding a race of animals so
similar to their own in properties and habits, and under the
control of a system of legislation which might seem to have
been imported from their native land.2

But the richest store of wool was obtained, not from these
domesticated animals, but from the two other species, the
huanacos and the vicunas , which roamed in native freedom
over the frozen ranges of the Cordilleras ; where not un-
frequently they might be seen scaling the snow-covered peaks
which no living thing inhabits save the condor, the huge bird
of the Andes, whose broad pinions bear him up in the atmo¬
sphere to the height of more than twenty thousand feet above
the level of the sea.3 In these rugged pastures, “ the flock
without a fold ” finds sufficient sustenance in the ychu, a species
of grass which is found scattered all along the great ridge of
the Cordilleras, from the equator to the southern limits of
Patagonia. And as these limits define the territory traversed
by the Peruvian sheep, which rarely, if ever, venture north of
the line, it seems not improbable that this mysterious little
plant is so important to their existence, that the absence of it
is the principal reason why they have not penetrated to the
northern latitudes of Quito and New Granada.4

But, although thus roaming without a master over the
boundless wastes of the Cordilleras, the Peruvian peasant was
never allowed to hunt these wild animals, which were protected

1 Ganado maior , ganado menor.

2 The judicious Ondegardo emphatically recommends the adoption of
many of these regulations by the Spanish government, as peculiarly suited
to the exigencies of the natives. “ En esto de los ganados parescio haber
hecho muchas constituciones en diferentes tiempos, e algunas tan utiles e
provechosas para su conservacion, que convendria que tambien guardasen
agora. — Rel. Seg., MS.

3 Malte-Brun, book lxxxvi.

4 Ychu , called in the “Flora Peruana” Jarava ; class, Monandria
Digynia. See Walton, p. 17.

Civilisation of the Incas 89

by laws as severe as were the sleek herds that grazed on the
more cultivated slopes of the plateau. The wild game of the
forest and the mountain was as much the property of the gov¬
ernment, as if it had been enclosed within a park, or penned
within a fold.1 It was only on stated occasions, at the great
hunts, which took place once a year, under the personal super¬
intendence of the Inca or his principal officers, that the game
was allowed to be taken. These hunts were not repeated in
the same quarter of the country oftener than once in four years,
that time might be allowed for the waste occasioned by them
to be replenished. At the appointed time, all those living in
the district and its neighbourhood, to the number, it might be,
of fifty or sixty thousand men,2 were distributed round, so as to
form a cordon of immense extent, that should embrace the
whole country which was to be hunted over. The men
were armed with long poles and spears, with which they beat
up game of every description lurking in the woods, the valleys,
and the mountains, killing the beasts of prey without mercy,
and driving the others, consisting chiefly of the deer of the
country, and the huanacos and vicunas, towards the centre of
the wide-extended circle ; until, as this gradually contracted,
the timid inhabitants of the forest were concentrated on some
spacious plain, where the eye of the hunter might range freely
over his victims, who found no place for shelter or escape.

The male deer and some of the coarser kind of the Peruvian
sheep were slaughtered ; their skins were reserved for the
various useful manufactures to which they are ordinarily
applied, and their flesh, cut into thin slices, was distributed
among the people, who converted it into charqui, the dried
meat of the country, which constituted then the sole, as it has
since the principal, animal food of the lower classes of Peru.3

But nearly the whole of the sheep, amounting usually to
thirty or forty thousand, or even a larger number, after being
carefully sheared, were suffered to escape, and regain their
solitary haunts among the mountains. The wool thus collected
was deposited in the royal magazines, whence, in due time,
it was dealt out to the people. The coarser quality was

1 Ondcgardo, Rel. Prim., MS.

2 Sometimes even a hundred thousand mustered when the Inca hunted in
person, if we may crerlit Sarmiento. “ De donde haviendose ya juntado
cinquenta 6 sesenta mil personas, 6 cien mil si mandado les era.” —
Relacion, MS., cap. xiii.

3 Relacion, MS., ubi supra. Charqui ; hence, probably, says M'Culloch,
the term “jerked” applied to the dried beef of South America.-
Researches, p, 377.

E 3oi

go Conquest of Peru

worked up into garments for their own use, and the finer
for the Inca : for none but an Inca noble could wear the fine
fabric of the vicuna.1

The Peruvians showed great skill in the manufacture of
different articles for the royal household from this delicate
material, which, under the name of vigonia wool, is now
familiar to the looms of Europe. It was wrought into shawls,
robes, and other articles of dress for the monarch, and into
carpets, coverlets, and hangings for the imperial palaces and the
temples. The cloth was finished on both sides alike;2 the
delicacy of the texture was such as to give it the lustre of silk ;
and the brilliancy of the dyes excited the admiration and the
envy of the European artisan.3 The Peruvians produced also
an article of great strength and durability by mixing the hair of
animals with wool ; and they were expert in the beautiful
feather-work, which they held of less account than the
Mexicans, from the superior quality of the materials for other
fabrics which they had at their command.4

The natives showed a skill in other mechanical arts similar
to that displayed by their manufactures of cloth. Every man
in Peru was expected to be acquainted with the various handi¬
crafts essential to domestic comfort. No long apprenticeship
was required for this, where the wants were so few as among
the simple peasantry of the Incas. But, if this were all, it
would imply but a very moderate advancement in the arts.
There were certain individuals, however, carefully trained to
those occupations which minister to the demands of the more
opulent classes of society. These occupations, like every other
calling and office in Peru, always descended from father to
son.5 The division of castes, in this particular, was as precise

1 Sarmiento, Relacion, MS., loc. sit. Cieza de Leon, Cronica, cap.
Ixxxi. Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. vi. cap. vi.

2 Acosta, lib. iv. cap. xli.

3 “ Ropas finisimas para los reyes, que lo eran tanto que parecian de
sarga de seda, y con colores tan perfectos quanto se puede afirmar.” —
Sarmiento, Relacion, MS., cap. xiii.

4 Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., MS. “ Ropa finisima para los
senores Ingas de lana de las vicunias. Y cierto fue tan prima este ropa
corao auran visto en Espana : por alguna que alia fue luego que se gano
este reyno. Los vestidos destos Ingas eran camisetas desta ropa ; vnas
pobladas de argenteria de oro, otras de esmeralaas y piedras preciosas : y
algunas de plumas de aues ; otras de solamente la manta. Para hazer
estas ropas, tuuiero y tienen tan perfetas colores de carmesi, azul, amarillo,
negro, y de otras suertes, que verdaderamente tienen ventaja a las de
Espafia.” — Cieza de Leon, Cronica, cap. cxiv.

6 Ondegardo, Rel. Prim, y Seg., MSS. — Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte
i. lib. v. cap. vii. ix. xiii.

Civilisation of the Incas 91

as that which existed in Egypt or Hindostan. If this arrange¬
ment be unfavourable to originality, or to the development of
the peculiar talent of the individual, it at least conduces to an
easy and finished execution, by familiarising the artist with the
practice of his art from childhood.1

The royal magazines, and the huacas or tombs of the Incas,
have been found to contain many specimens of curious and
elaborate workmanship. Among these are vases of gold and
silver, bracelets, collars, and other ornaments for the person ;
utensils of every description, some of fine clay, and many more
of copper ; mirrors of a hard, polished stone, or burnished
silver, with a great variety of other articles made frequently on
a whimsical pattern, evincing quite as much ingenuity as taste
or inventive talent.2 The character of the Peruvian mind led
to imitation, in fact, rather than invention, to delicacy and
minuteness of finish, rather than to boldness or beauty of
design.

That they should have accomplished these difficult works
with such tools as they possessed, is truly wonderful. It was
comparatively easy to cast and even to sculpture metallic sub¬
stances, both of which they did with consummate skill. But
that they should have shown the like facility in cutting the
hardest substances, as emeralds and other precious stones, is
not so easy to explain. Emeralds they obtained in consider¬
able quantity from the barren district of Atacames, and this
inflexible material seems to have been almost as ductile in the
hands of the Peruvian artist as if it had been made of clay.8
Yet the natives were unacquainted with the use of iron, though
the soil was largely impregnated with it.4 The tools used were
of stone, or more frequently of copper. But the material on

1 At least, such was the opinion of the Egyptians, who referred to this
arrangement of castes as the source of their own peculiar dexterity in the
arts. — .See Diodorus Sic., lib. i. sec. lxxiv.

2 Ulloa, Not. Amer., ent. xxi. — Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., MS. —
Cieza de Leon, Cronica, cap. cxiv.— Condamine, Mem. ap. Hist, de l’Acad.
Royale de Berlin, tom. ii. pp. 454-456. The last writer says, that a large
collection of massive gold ornaments of very rich workmanship was long
preserved in the royal treasury of Quito. But on his going there to
examine them, he learned that they had just been melted down into ingots
to send to Carthagena, then besieged by the English ! The art of war can
flourish only at the expense of all the other arts.

s They had turquoises, also, and might have had pearls, but for the
tenderness of the Incas, who were unwilling to risk the lives of their people
in this perilous fishery ! At least, so we are assured by Garcilasso. —Com.
Real., parte L lib. viii. cap. xxiii.

4 “ No tenian herramientas de hiero ni azero.” — Ondegardo, Rel. Seg.,
MS. — Herrera, Hist. General, dec. v. lib. iv. cap. iv.

92 Conquest of Peru

which they relied for the execution of their most difficult tasks
was formed by combining a very small portion of tin with
copper.1 This composition gave a hardness to the metal
which seems to have been little inferior to that of steel. With
the aid of it, not only did the Peruvian artisan hew into shape
porphyry and granite, but by his patient industry accomplished
works which the European would not have ventured to under¬
take. Among the remains of the monuments of Cannar may
be seen movable rings in the muzzles of animals, all nicely
sculptured of one entire block of granite.2 It is worthy of
remark, that the Egyptians, the Mexicans, and the Peruvians,
in their progress towards civilisation, should never have
detected the use of iron, which lay around them in abundance ;
and that they should each, without any knowledge of the other,
have found a substitute for it in such a curious composition of
metals as gave to their tools almost the temper of steel ; 3 a
secret that has been lost — or, to speak more correctly, has
never been discovered — by the civilised European.

I have already spoken of the large quantity of gold and
silver wrought into various articles of elegance and utility for
the Incas ; though the amount was inconsiderable, in com¬
parison with what could have been afforded by the mineral
riches of the land, and with what has since been obtained by
the more sagacious and unscrupulous cupidity of the white
man. Gold was gathered by the Incas from the deposits of
the streams. They extracted the ore also in considerable
quantities from the valley of Curimayo, north-east of Caxa-
marca, as well as from other places ; and the silver mines of
Porco, in particular, yielded them considerable returns. Yet
they did not attempt to penetrate into the bowels of the earth
by sinking a shaft, but simply excavated a cavern in the steep
sides of the mountain, or, at most, opened a horizontal vein of
moderate depth. They were equally deficient in the know¬
ledge of the best means of detaching the precious metal from
the dross with which it was united, and had no idea of the

1 M. de Humboldt brought with him back to Europe one of these
metallic tools, a chisel, found in a silver mine opened by the Incas not far
from Cuzco. On an analysis, it was found to contain 0^94 of copper, and
o‘o6 of tin. — See Vues des Cordilleres, p. 117

2 “ Quoiqu’il en soit,” says M. de la Condamine, “nous avons vu en
quelques autres ruines des ornemens du meme granit, qui representoient des
mufles d’animaux, dont les narines percees portoient des anneaux mobiles
de la meme pierre.” — Mem. ap. Hist, de l’Acad. Royale de Berlin, tom, ii.
P- 452.

a See the History of the Conquest of Mexico, book i. chap. v.

Civilisation of the Incas 93

virtues of quicksilver — a mineral not rare in Peru — as an
amalgam to effect this decomposition.1 Their method of
smelting the ore was by means of furnaces built in elevated
and exposed situations, where they might be fanned by the
strong breezes of the mountains. The subjects of the Incas,
in short, with all their patient perseverance, did little more
than penetrate below the crust, the outer rind, as it were,
formed over those golden caverns which lie hidden in the dark
depths of the Andes. Yet what they gleaned from the surface
was more than adequate for all their demands. For they were
not a commercial people, and had no knowledge of money.2
In this they differed from the ancient Mexicans, who had an
established currency of a determinate value. In one respect,
however, they were superior to their American rivals, since they
made use of weights to determine the quantities of their com¬
modities, a thing wholly unknown to the Aztecs. This fact is
ascertained by the discovery of silver balances, adjusted with
perfect accuracy, in some of the tombs of the Incas.8

But the surest test of the civilisation of a people— at least,
as sure as any — afforded by mechanical art is to be found in
their architecture, which presents so noble a field for the display
of the grand and the beautiful, and which, at the same time, is
so intimately connected with the essential comforts of life.
There is no object on which the resources of the wealthy are
more freely lavished, or which call out more effectually the
inventive talent of the artist. The painter and the sculptor
may display their individual genius in creations of surpassing
excellence, but it is the great monuments of architectural taste
and magnificence that are stamped in a peculiar manner by the
genius of the nation. The Greek, the Egyptian, the Saracen,
the Gothic — what a key do their respective styles afford to the
character and condition of the people ! The monuments of
China, of Hindostan, and of central America are all indicative
of an immature period, in which the imagination has not been
disciplined by study, and which, therefore, in its best results
: betrays only the ill-regulated aspirations after the beautiful that
: belong to a semi-civilised people.

1 Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. viii. cap. xxv.

2 Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. v. cap. vii. ; lib. vi. cap. viii. —
Ondegardo, Rel. Seg., MS. This, which Buonaparte thought so incredible
of the little island of Loo Choo, was siill more extraordinary in a great and
flourishing empire like Peru — the country, too, which contained within its
bowels the treasures that were one day 10 furnish Europe wiih the basis of
its vast metallic currency.

8 Ulloa, Not. Amer., ent. xxx.

94 Conquest of Peru

The Peruvian architecture, bearing also the general character¬
istics of an imperfect state of refinement, had still its peculiar
character ; and so uniform was that character, that the edifices
throughout the country seem to have been all cast in the same
mould.1 They were usually built of porphyry or granite ; not
unfrequently of brick. This, which was formed into blocks or
squares of much larger dimensions than our brick, was made
of a tenacious earth mixed up with reeds or tough grass, and
acquired a degree of hardness with age that made it insensible
alike to the storms and the more trying sun of the tropics.2
The walls were of great thickness, but low, seldom reaching
to more than twelve or fourteen feet in height. It is rare
to meet with accounts of a building that rose to a second
story.3

The apartments had no communication with one another,
but usually opened into a court ; and, as they were unprovided
with windows, or apertures that served for them, the only light
from without must have been admitted by the doorways. These
were made with the sides approaching each other towards the
top, so that the lintel was considerably narrower than the
threshold, a peculiarity, also, in Egyptian architecture. The
roofs have for the most part disappeared with time. Some few
survive in the less ambitious edifices, of a singular bell-shape,
and made of a composition of earth and pebbles. They are
supposed, however, to have been generally formed of more
perishable materials, of wood or straw. It is certain that
some of the most considerable stone buildings were thatched
with straw, Many seem to have been constructed without the
aid of cement; and writers have contended that the Peruvians
were unacquainted with the use of mortar or cement of any
kind.4 But a close, tenacious mould, mixed with lime, may
be discovered filling up the interstices of the granite in some
buildings ; and in others, where the well-fitted blocks leave no

1 it is the observation of Humboldt. “ II est impossible d’examiner
attentivement un seul edifice du temps des Incas, sans reconnoitre le meme
type dans tous les autres qui couvrent le dos des Andes, sur une longueur
de plus de quatre cent cinquante iieues, depuis milie jusqua’ a quatre mille
metres d’elevation au-dessus du niveau de l’ocean. On dirait qu’un seul
architecte a construit ce grand nombre de monumens.” — Vues des Cordilleres,

p. 197.

2 Ulloa, who carefully examined these bricks, suggests that there must
have been some secret in their composition, so superior in many respects
to our own manufacture, now lost— Not. Amer., ent. xx.

3 Ulloa, Not. Amer., ubi supra.

4 Among others, see Acosta, lib. vi. cap. xv. — Robertson, History of
America, (London, 1796,) vol. ii. p. 213.

Civilisation of the Incas 95

room for this coarser material, the eye of the antiquary has
detected a fine bituminous glue as hard as the rock itself.1

The greatest simplicity is observed in the construction of
the buildings, which are usually free from outward ornament ;
though in some the huge stones are shaped into a convex form
with great regularity, and adjusted with such nice precision to
one another, that it would be impossible, but for the flutings,
to determine the line of junction. In others, the stone is rough,
as it is taken from the quarry, in the most irregular forms, with
the edges nicely wrought and fitted to each other. There is
no appearance of columns or of arches ; though there is some
contradiction as to the latter point. But it is not to be doubted,
that although they may have made some approach to this mode
of construction by the greater or less inclination of the walls,
the Peruvian architects were wholly unacquainted with the true
principle of the circular arch reposing on its key-stone.2

The architecture of the Incas is characterised, says an eminent
traveller, “ by simplicity, symmetry, and solidity.” 3 It may
seem unphilosophical to condemn the peculiar fashion of a
nation as indicating want of taste, because its standard of
taste differs from our own. Yet there is an incongruity in the
composition of the Peruvian buildings which argues a very
imperfect acquaintance with the first principles of architecture.
While they put together their bulky masses of porphyry and
granite with the nicest art, they were incapable of mortising
their timbers, and, in their ignorance of iron, knew no better
way of holding the beams together than tying them with thongs
of maguey. In the same incongruous spirit, the building that
was thatched with straw, and unilluminated by a window, was

1 Ondegardo, Rel. Seg., MS., — Ulloa, Not. Amer., ent. xxi. Humboldt,
who analysed the cement of the ancient structures at Cannar. says that it is
a true mortar, formed of a mixture of pebbles and a clayey marl. (Vues
des Cordilleres, p. 116. ) Father Velasco is in raptures with an “almost
imperceptible kind of cement ” made of lime and a bituminous substance
resembling glue, which incorporated with the siones so as to hold them
firmly together like one solid mass, vet left nothing visible to the eye of the
common observer. This glutinous composition, mixed with pebbles, made
a sort of Macadamised road much used by the Incas, as hard and almost as
smooth as marble.— Hist, de Quito, tom. i. pp. 126-128.

2 Condamine, Mem. ap. Hist, de I’Acad. Royale de Berlin, tom. ii. p.
448. — Antig. y Monumentos del Peru, MS. — Herrera, Hist. General, dec.
v. lib. iv. cap. iv. — Acosta, lib. vi. cap. xiv. — Ulloa, Voyage to S. America,
vol. i. p. 469. — Ondegardo, Rel. Seg., MS.

3 “Simplicite, symetrie, et solidite, voila les trois caracteres par lesquels
se distinguent avantageusement tous les edifices penmens.” — Humboldt,
Vues des Cordilleres, p. 115*

96 Conquest of Peru

glowing with tapestries of gold and silver ! These are the
inconsistencies of a rude people, among whom the arts are but
partially developed. It might not be difficult to find examples
of like inconsistency in the architecture and domestic
arrangements of our Anglo-Saxon, and, at a still later period,
of our Norman ancestors.

Yet the buildings of the Incas were accommodated to the
character of the climate, and were well fitted to resist those
terrible convulsions which belong to the land of volcanoes.
The wisdom of their plan is attested by the number which still
survive, while the more modern constructions of the Conquerors
have been buried in ruins. The hand of the Conquerors,
indeed, has fallen heavily on these venerable monuments, and
in their blind and superstitious search for hidden treasure, has
caused infinitely more ruin than time or the earthquake.1 Yet
enough of these monuments still remain to invite the researches
of the antiquary. Those only in the most conspicuous situations
have been hitherto examined. But by the testimony of travellers,
many more are to be found in the less frequented parts of the
country ; and we may hope they will one day call forth a
kindred spirit of enterprise to that which has so successfully
explored the mysterious recesses of Central America and
Yucatan.

1 The anonymous author of the Antig. y Monumentos del Peru, MS.,
gives us, at second hand, one of those golden traditions which, in early
times, fostered the spirit of adventure. The tradition, in this instance,
he thinks well entitled to credit. The reader will judge for himself : —

“ It is a well authenticated report, and generally received, that there is a
secret hall in the fortress of Cuzco, where an immense treasure is concealed,
consisting of the statues of all the Incas, wrought in gold. A lady is still
living, Doha Maria de Esquivel, the wife of the last Inca, who has visited
this hall, and I have heard her relate the way in which she was carried to
see it.

“Don Carlos, the lady’s husband, did not maintain a style of living
becoming his high rank. Doha Maria sometimes reproached him, declar¬
ing that she had been deceived into marrying a poor Indian under the lofty
title of Lord or Inca. She said this so frequently, that Don Carlos one
night exclaimed, ‘ Lady ! do you wish to know whether I am rich or poor?
You shall see that no lord nor king in the world has a larger treasure than
I have.’ Then covering her eyes with a handkerchief, he made her turn
round two or three times, and, taking her by the hand, led her a short
distance before he removed the bandage. On opening her eyes what was
her amazement ! She had gone not more than two hundred paces, and
descended a short flight of steps, and she now found herself in a large
quadrangular hall, where, ranged on benches round the walls, she beheld
the statues of the Incas, each of the size of a boy twelve years old, all of
massive gold ! She saw’ also many vessels of gold and silver. ‘ In fact,’
she said ‘ it was one of the most magnificent treasures in the whole world 1 ’ ”

Civilisation of the Incas 97

i cannot close this analysis of the Peruvian institutions with¬
out a few reflections on their general character and tendency,
which, if they involve some repetition of previous remarks,
may, 1 trust, be excused from my desire to leave a correct and
consistent impression on the reader. In this survey, we cannot
but be struck with the total dissimilarity between these institu¬
tions and those of the Aztecs — the other great nation who led
in the march of civilisation on this western continent, and
whose empire in the northern portion of it was as conspicuous
as that of the Incas in the south. Both nations came on the
plateau, and commenced their career of conquest, at dates, it
may be, not far removed from each other.1 And it is worthy
of notice, that, in America, the elevated region along the crests
of the great mountain ranges should have been the chosen seat
of civilisation in both hemispheres.

Very different was the policy pursued by the two races in
their military career. The Aztecs, animated by the most
ferocious spirit, carried on a war of extermination, signalising
their triumphs by the sacrifice of hecatombs of captives ; while
the Incas, although they pursued the game of conquest with
equal pertinacity, preferred a milder policy, substituting negoti¬
ation and intrigue for violence, and dealt with their antagonists
so that their future resources should not be crippled, and that
they should come as friends, not as foes, into the bosom of the
empire.

Their policy towards the conquered forms a contrast no less
striking to that pursued by the Aztecs. The Mexican vassals
were ground by excessive imposts and military conscriptions.
No regard was had to their welfare, and the only limit to
oppression was the power of endurance. They were overawed
by fortresses and armed garrisons, and were made to feel every
hour that they were not part and parcel of the nation, but held
only in subjugation as a conquered people. The Incas, on the
other hand, admitted their new subjects at once to all the rights
enjoyed by the rest of the community ; and though they made
them conform to the established laws and usages of the empire,
they watched over their personal security and comfort with a
sort of parental solicitude. The motley population, thus bound
together by common interest, was animated by a common feel¬
ing of loyalty, which gave greater strength and stability to the
empire, as it became more and more widely extended ; while
the various tribes who successively came under the Mexican

*e 301

1 Ante, chap. i.

98 Conquest of Peru

sceptre, being held together only by the pressure of external
force, were ready to fall asunder the moment that that force
was withdrawn. The policy of the two nations displayed the
principle of fear as contrasted with the principle of love.

The characteristic features of their religious systems had as
little resemblance to each other. The whole Aztec pantheon
partook more or less of the sanguinary spirit of the terrible
war-god who presided over it, and their frivolous ceremonial
almost always terminated with human sacrifice and cannibal
orgies. But the rites of the Peruvians were of a more innocent
cast, as they tended to a more spiritual worship. For the
worship of the Creator is most nearly approached by that
of the heavenly bodies, which, as they revolve in their bright
orbits, seem to be the most glorious symbols of his beneficence
and power.

In the minuter mechanical arts, both showed considerable
skill ; but in the construction of important public works, of
roads, aqueducts, canals, and in agriculture in all its details,
the Peruvians were much superior. Strange that they should
have fallen so far below their rivals in their efforts after a
higher intellectual culture, in astronomical science, more
especially, and in the art of communicating thought by visible
symbols. When we consider the greater refinement of the
Incas, their inferiority to the Aztecs in these particulars can
be explained only by the fact, that the latter in all probability
were indebted for their science to the race who preceded them
in the land — that shadowy race whose origin and whose end
are alike veiled from the eye of the inquirer, but who possibly
may have sought a refuge from their ferocious invaders in those
regions of Central America, the architectural remains of which
now supply us with the most pleasing monuments of Indian
civilisation. It is with this more polished race, to whom the
Peruvians seem to have borne some resemblance in their
mental and moral organisation, that they should be compared.
Had the empire of the Incas been permitted to extend itself
with the rapid strides with which it was advancing at the period
of the Spanish conquest, the two races might have come into
conflict, or perhaps, into alliance with one another.

The Mexicans and Peruvians, so different in the character
of their peculiar civilisation, were, it seems probable, ignorant
of each other’s existence ; and it may appear singular, that,
during the simultaneous continuance of their empires, some
of the seeds of science and of art, which pass so imperceptibly
from one people to another, should not have found their way

Civilisation of the Incas 99

across the interval which separated the two nations. They
furnish an interesting example of the opposite directions which
the human mind may take in its struggle to emerge from
darkness into the light of civilisation.

A closer resemblance — as I have more than once taken
occasion to notice — may be found between the Peruvian in¬
stitutions and some of the despotic governments of Eastern
Asia ; those governments where despotism appears in its more
mitigated form, and the whole people, under the patriarchal
sway of its sovereign, seemed to be gathered together like the
members of one vast family. Such were the Chinese, for
example, whom the Peruvians resembled in their implicit
obedience to authority, their mild yet somewhat stubborn
temper, their solicitude for forms, their reverence for ancient
usage, their skill in the minuter manufactures, their imitative
rather than inventive cast of mind, and their invincible patience,
which serves instead of a more adventurous spirit for the
execution of difficult undertakings.1

A still closer analogy may be found with the natives of
Hindostan in their division into castes, their worship of the
heavenly bodies and the elements of nature, and their acquaint¬
ance with the scientific principles of husbandry. To the
ancient Egyptians, also, they bore considerable resemblance
in the same particulars, as well as in those ideas of a future
existence which led them to attach so much importance to the
permanent preservation of the body.

But we shall look in vain in the history of the East for a
parallel to the absolute control exercised by the Incas over
their subjects. In the East, this was founded on physical
power — on the external resources of the government. The
authority of the Inca might be compared with that of the Pope
in the day of his might, when Christendom trembled at the
thunders of the Vatican, and the successor of St. Peter set his
foot on the necks of princes. But the authority of the Pope
was founded on opinion. His temporal power was nothing.
The empire of the Incas rested on both. It was a theocracy
more potent in its operation than that of the Jews ; for though

1 Count Carli has amused himself with tracing out the different points of
resemblance between the Chinese and the Peruvians. The emperor of
China was styled the son of Heaven or of the Sun. He also held a plough
once a year in presence of his people, to show his respect for agriculture.
And the solstices and equinoxes were noted, to determine the period of their
religious festivals. The coincidences are curious. Lettres Americaines,
tom. ii. pp. 7, 8.

xoo

Conquest of Peru

the sanction of the law might be as great among the latter, the
law was expounded by a human law-giver, the servant and
representative of Divinity. But the Inca was both the law¬
giver and the law. He was not merely the representative of
Divinity, or, like the Pope, its vicegerent, but he was Divinity
itself. The violation of his ordinance was sacrilege. Never
was there a scheme of government enforced by such terrible
sanctions, or which bore so oppressively on the subjects of it.
For it reached not only to the visible acts, but to the private
conduct, the words, the very thoughts, of its vassals.

It added not a little to the efficacy of the government, that,
below the sovereign, there was an order of hereditary nobles
of the same divine original with himself, who, placed far below
himself, were still immeasurably above the rest of the com¬
munity, not merely by descent, but, as it would seem, by their
intellectual nature. These were the exclusive depositories of
power, and, as their long hereditary training made them
familiar with their vocation, and secured them implicit deference
from the multitude, they became the prompt and well-practised
agents for carrying out the executive measures of the adminis¬
tration. All that occurred throughout the wide extent of his
empire — such was the perfect system of communication — passed
in review, as it were, before the eyes of the monarch, and a
thousand hands, armed with irresistible authority, stood ready
in every quarter to do his bidding. Was it not, as we have
said, the most oppressive, though the mildest of despotisms ?

It was the mildest, from the very circumstance, that the
transcendant rank of the sovereign, and the humble, nay,
superstitious, devotion to his will, made it superfluous to assert
this will by acts of violence or rigour. The great mass of the
people may have appeared to his eyes as but little removed
above the condition of the brute, formed to minister to his
pleasures. But, from their very helplessness he regarded them
with feelings of commiseration, like those which a kind master
might feel for the poor animals committed to his charge, or —
to do justice to the beneficent character attributed to many of
the Incas — that a parent might feel for his young and impotent
offspring. The laws were carefully directed to their preservation
and personal comfort. The people were not allowed to be
employed on works pernicious to their health, nor to pine — a
sad contrast to their subsequent destiny — under the imposition
of tasks too heavy for their powers. They were never made the
victims of public or private extortion; and a benevolent fore¬
cast watched carefully over their necessities, and provided for

IOI

Civilisation of the Incas

their relief in seasons of infirmity, and for their sustenance in
health. The government of the Incas, however arbitrary in
form, was in its spirit truly patriarchal.

Yet in this there was nothing cheering to the dignity of
human nature. What the people had was conceded as a boon,
not as a right. When a nation was brought under the sceptre
of the Incas, it resigned every personal right, even the rights
dearest to humanity. Under this extraordinary polity, a people
advanced in many of the social refinements, wTell skilled in
manufactures and agriculture, were unacquainted, as we have
seen, with money. They had nothing that deserved to be
called property. They could follow no craft, could engage in
no labour, no amusement, but such as was specially provided
by law. They could not change their residence or their dress
without a license from the government. They could not even
exercise the freedom which is conceded to the most abject in
other countries, that of selecting their own wives. The im¬
perative spirit of despotism would not allow them to be happy
or miserable in any way but that established by law. The
power of free agency — the inestimable and inborn right of
every human being — was annihilated in Peru.

The astonishing mechanism of the Peruvian polity could
have resulted only from the combined authority of opinion and
positive power in the ruler to an extent unprecedented in the
history of man. Yet that it should have so successfully gone
into operation, and so long endured, in opposition to the tastes,
the prejudices, and the very principles of our nature, is a strong
proof of a generally wise and temperate administration of the
government.

The policy habitually pursued by the Incas for the prevention
of evils that might have disturbed the order of things, is well
exemplified in their provisions against poverty and idleness.
In these they rightly discerned the two great causes of dis¬
affection in a populous community. The industry of the
people was secured not only by their compulsory occupations
at home, but by their employment on those great public works
which covered every part of the country, and which still bear
testimony in their decay to their primitive grandeur. Yet it
may well astonish us to find, that the natural difficulty of these
undertakings, sufficiently great in itself, considering the im¬
perfection of their tools and machinery, was inconceivably
enhanced by the politic contrivance of government. The
royal edifices of Quito, we are assured by the Spanish con¬
querors, were constructed of huge masses of stone, many of

102

Conquest of Peru

which were carried all the way along the mountain roads from
Cuzco, a distance of several hundred leagues.1 The great
square of the capital was filled to a considerable depth with
mould brought with incredible labour up the steep slopes of
the Cordilleras from the distant shores of the Pacific Ocean.2
Labour was regarded not only as a means, but as an end, by
the Peruvian law.

With their manifold provisions against poverty the reader has
already been made acquainted. They were so perfect, that,
in their wide extent of territory — much of it smitten with the
curse of barrenness — no man, however humble, suffered from
the want of food and clothing. Famine, so common a scourge
in every other American nation, so common at that period in
every country of civilised Europe, was an evil unknown in the
dominions of the Incas,

The most enlightened of the Spaniards who first visited Peru,
struck with the general appearance of plenty and prosperity,
and with the astonishing order with which everything through¬
out the country was regulated, are loud in their expressions of
admiration. No better government, in their opinion, could
have been devised for the people. Contented with their
condition, and free from vice, to borrow the language of an
eminent authority of that early day, the mild and docile
character of the Peruvians would have well fitted them to

1 “ Era muy principal intento que la gente no holgase, que dava causa a
que despues que los Ingas estuvieron en paz hacer traer de Quito al Cuzco
piedra que venia de provincia en provincia para hacer casas pari si 6 pa el
Sol en gran cantidad, y del Cuzco llevalia a Quito pa el mismo efecto, ....
y asi destas cosas hacian los Ingas muchas de poco provecho y de escesivo
travajo en que traian ocupadas las provincias ordinariamte, y en fin el travajo
era causa de su conservacion.” — Ondegardo, Rel. Prim., MS. — Also Antig.
y Monumentos del Peru, MS.

2 This was literally gold dust ; for Ondegardo states, that, when governor
of Cuzco, he caused great quantities of gold vessels and ornaments to be
disinterred from the sand in which they had been secreted by the natives.
“ Que toda aquella plaza del Cuzco le sacaron la tierra propia, y se llevo a
otras partes por cosa de gran estima, e la hincheron de arena de la costa de
la mar, como hasta dos palmos y medio en algunas partes, mas sembraron
por toda ella muchos vasos de oro 6 plata, y hovejuelas hombrecillos pe-
quenos de lo mismo, lo cual se ha sacado en mucha cantidad, que todo lo
hemos visto ; desta arena estaba toda la plaza, quando yo fui a governar
aquella Ciudad ; e si fue verdad que aquella se trajo de ellos afirman e tie-
nen puestos en sus registros, paresceme que se a ansi, que toda la tierra
junta tubo necesidad de entender en ello, por que la plaza es grande, y no
tiene numero las cargas que en ella entraron ; y la costa por lo mas cerca
esta mas de nobenta leguas a lo que creo, y cierto yo me satisfice, porque
todos dicen, que aquel genero de arena, no lo hay hasta la costa.” — Rel
Seg., MS.

Civilisation of the Incas 103

receive the teachings of Christianity, had the love of conversion,
instead of gold, animated the breasts of the Conquerors.1 And
a philosopher of a later time, warmed by the contemplation of
the picture, which his own fancy had coloured, of public
prosperity and private happiness under the rule of the Incas,
pronounces “the moral man in Peru far superior to the
European.” 2

Yet such results are scarcely reconcilable with the theory of
the government I have attempted to analyse. Where there is
no free agency, there can be no morality. Where there is no
temptation, there can be little claim to virtue. Where the
routine is rigorously prescribed by law, the law, and not the
man, must have the credit of the conduct. If that government
is the best which is felt the least, which encroaches on the
natural liberty of the subject only so far as is essential to civil
subordination, then of all governments devised by man the
Peruvian has the least real claim to our admiration.

It is not easy to comprehend the genius and the full import
of institutions so opposite to those of our own free republic,
where every man, however humble his condition, may aspire to
the highest honours of the state — may select his own career,
and carve out his fortune in his own way; where the light of
knowledge, instead of being concentrated on a chosen few, is
shed abroad like the light of day, and suffered to fall equally
on the poor and the rich ; where the collision of man with man

1 “Y si Dios permitiera que tubieran quien con celo de Christiandad, y
no con ramo de codicia, en lo pasado., les dieran entera noticia de nuestra
sagrada Religion, era gente en que bien imprimiera, segun vemos por lo
que ahora con. la buena orden que hay se obra. ” — Sarmiento, Relacion.
MS., cap. xxii. But the most emphatic testimony to the merits of the
people is that afforded by Mancio Sierra Lejesama, the last survivor of the
early Spanish Conquerors, who settled in Peru. In the preamble to his
testament, made, as he states, to relieve his conscience, at the time of his
death, he declares that the whole population, under the Incas, was dis¬
tinguished by sobriety and industry ; that such things as robbery and theft
were unknowm ; that, far from licentiousness, there was not even a prosti¬
tute in the country ; and that everything was conducted with the greatest
order, and entire submission to authority. The panegyric is somewhat too
unqualified for a whole nation, and may lead one to suspect that the stings
of remorse for his own treatment of the natives goaded the dying veteran
into a higher estimate of their deserts than was strictly warranted by facts.
Yet this testimony by such a man at such a time is too remarkable as well
as too honourable to the Peruvians, to be passed over in silence by the
historian ; and I have transferred the document in the original to Appendix ,
No. 4.

2 “ Sans doute l'homme moral du Perou etoit infiniment plus perfectionne
que l’Europeen.” — Carli, Lettres Americaines, tom. i. p. 215.

104 Conquest of Peru

wakens a generous emulation that calls out latent talent and
tasks the energies to the utmost ; where consciousness of in¬
dependence gives a feeling of self-reliance unknown to the
timid subjects of a despotism ; where, in short, the government
is made for man — not as in Peru, where man seemed to be
made only for the government. The New World is the theatre
on which these two political systems, so opposite in their
character, have been carried into operation. The empire of
the Incas has passed away and left no trace. The other great
experiment is still going on — the experiment which is to solve
the problem, so long contested in the old World, of the capacity
of man for self-government. Alas for humanity, if it should
fail !

The testimony of the Spanish conquerors is not uniform in
respect to the favourable influence exerted by the Peruvian
institutions on the character of the people. Drinking and
dancing are said to have been the pleasures to which they were
immoderately addicted. Like the slaves and serfs in other
lands, whose position excluded them from more serious and
ennobling occupations, they found a substitute in frivolous and
sensual indulgence. Lazy, luxurious, and licentious, are the
epithets bestowed on them by one of those who saw them at
the Conquest, but whose pen was not too friendly to the
Indian.1 Yet the spirit of independence could hardly be
strong in a people who had no interest in the soil, no personal
rights to defend ; and the facility with which they yielded to
the Spanish invader — after every allowance for their com¬
parative inferiority— argues a deplorable destitution of that
patriotic feeling which holds life as little in comparison with
freedom.

But we must not judge too hardly of the unfortunate native,
because he quailed before the civilisation of the European.
We must be insensible to the really great results that were
achieved by the government of the Incas. We must not

1 “ Heran muy dados a la lujuria y al bever, tenian accesso carnal con
las hermanas y las mugeres de sus padres como no fuesen sus mismas
madres, y aun algunos avia que con ellas misira; lo hacian y ansi mismo con
sus hijas. Estando borrachos tocavan algunos en el pegado nefando,
emborrachavense muy a menudo, y estando borrachos todo lo que el de-
monio les traia a la voluntad hacian. Heran estos orejones muy soberbios

y presuntuosos . Ter ’an otras muchas maldades que por ser muchas

no las digo.” — Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq. , MS. 'these random
aspersions of the hard conqueror show too gross an ignorance of the
institutions of the people to merit much confidence as to what is said of
their character.

Civilisation of the Incas 105

forget., that, under their rule, the meanest of the people en¬
joyed a far greater degree of personal comfort, at least a greater
exemption from physical suffering, than was possessed by similar
classes in other nations on the American continent — greater,
probably, than was possessed by these classes in most of the
countries of feudal Europe. Under their sceptre, the higher
orders of the state had made advances in many of the arts that
belong to a cultivated community. The foundations of a
regular government were laid, which, in an age of rapine,
secured to its subjects the inestimable blessings of tranquillity
and safety. By the well-sustained policy of the Incas, the rude
tribes of the forest were gradually drawn from their fastnesses,
and gathered within the folds of civilisation ; and of these
materials was constructed a flourishing and populous empire,
such as was to be found in no other quarter of the American
continent. The defects of this government were those of over¬
refinement in legislation — the last defects to have been looked

for, certainly, in the American aborigines.

Note. — I have not thought it necessary to swell this In¬
troduction by an inquiry into the origin of Peruvian civilisa¬
tion like that appended to the history of the Mexican. The
Peruvian history doubtless suggests analogies with more than
one nation in the East, some of which have been briefly
adverted to in the preceding pages ; although these analogies
are adduced there not as evidence of a common origin, but as
showing the coincidences which might naturally spring up
among different nations under the same phase of civilisation.
Such coincidences are neither so numerous nor so striking as
those afforded by the Aztec history. The correspondence
presented by the astronomical science of the Mexicans is alone
of more importance than all the rest. Yet the light of analogy,
afforded by the institutions of the Incas, seems to point, as far
as it goes, towards the same direction ; and as the investigation
could present but little substantially to confirm, and still less
to confute, the views taken in the former disquisition, I have
thought it best not to fatigue the reader with it.

Two of the prominent authorities on whom I have relied in
this Introductory portion of the work, are Juan de Sarmiento
and the Licentiate Ondegardo. Of the former I have been
able to collect no information beyond what is afforded by his
own writings. In the title prefixed to his manuscript, he is

xo6 Conquest of Peru

styled President of the Council of the Indies, a post of high
authority, which infers a weight of character in the party, and
means of information, that entitle his opinions on colonial
topics to great deference.

These means of information were much enlarged by Sar-
miento’s visit to the colonies, during the administration of
Gasca. Having conceived the design of compiling a history
of the ancient Peruvian institutions, he visited Cuzco, as he
tells us, in 1550, and there drew from the natives themselves
the materials for his narrative. His position gave him access
to the most authentic sources of knowledge, and from the lips
of the Inca nobles, the best instructed of the conquered race,
he gathered the traditions of their national history and institu¬
tions. The quipus formed, as we have seen, an imperfect
system of mnemonics, requiring constant attention, and much
inferior to the Mexican hieroglyphics. It was only by diligent
instruction that they were made available to historical purposes ;
and this instruction was so far neglected after the Conquest,
that the ancient annals of the country would have perished
with the generation which was the sole depository of them,
had it not been for the efforts of a few intelligent scholars, like
Sarmiento, who saw the importance, at this critical period, of
cultivating an intercourse with the natives, and drawing from
them their hidden stores of information.

To give still further authenticity to his work, Sarmiento
travelled over the country, examined the principal objects of
interest with his owm eyes, and thus verified the accounts of
the natives as far as possible by personal observation. The
result of these labours w^as his work entitled “ Relacion de la
sucesion y govierno de las Yngas, sehores naturales que fueron
de las Provincias del Peru, y otras cosas tocantes d aquel reyno,
para el Iltmo. Senor Da Juan Sarmiento, Presidente del Consejo
R1 de Indias.”

It is divided into chapters, and embraces about four hundred
folio pages in manuscript. The introductory portion of the
work is occupied with the traditionary tales of the origin and
early period of the Incas, teeming, as usual, in the antiquities of
a barbarous people, with legendary fables of the most wild and
monstrous character. Yet these puerile conceptions afford an
inexhaustible mine for the labours of the antiquarian, who
endeavours to unravel the allegorical wreb which a cunning
priesthood had devised as symbolical of those mysteries of
creation that it was beyond their power to comprehend. But
Sarmiento happily confines himself to the mere statement of

Civilisation of the Incas 107

traditional fables, without the chimerical ambition to explain
them.

From this region of romance Sarmiento passes to the institu-
tions of the Peruvians, describes their ancient polity, their
religion, their progress in the arts, especially agriculture; and
presents, in short, an elaborate picture of the civilisation which
they reached under the Inca dynasty. This part of his work,
resting, as it does, on the best authority, confirmed in many
instances by his own observation, is of unquestionable value,
and is written with an apparent respect for truth, that engages
the confidence of the reader. The concluding portion of the
manuscript is occupied with the civil history of the country.
The reigns of the early Incas, which lie beyond the sober
province of history, he despatches with commendable brevity.
But on the last three reigns, and fortunately of the greatest
princes who occupied the Peruvian throne, he is more diffuse.
This was comparatively firm ground for the chronicler, for the
events were too recent to be obscured by the vulgar legends
that gather like moss round every incident of the older time.
His account stops with the Spanish invasion ; for this story,
Sarmiento felt, might be safely left to his contemporaries who
acted a part in it, but whose taste and education had qualified
them but indifferently for exploring the antiquities and social
institutions of the natives.

Sarmiento’s work is composed in a simple, perspicuous style,
without that ambition of rhetorical display too common with
his countrymen. He writes with honest candour, and while he
does ample justice to the merits and capacity of the conquered
races, he notices with indignation the atrocities of the Spaniards
and the demoralising tendency of the Conquest. It may be
thought, indeed, that he forms too high an estimate of the attain¬
ments of the nation under the Incas. And it is not improbable,
that astonished by the vestiges it afforded of an original civilisa¬
tion, he became enamoured of his subject, and thus exhibited it
in colours somewhat too glowing to the eye of the European.
But this was an amiable failing, not too largely shared by the
stern Conquerors, who subverted the institutions of the country,
and saw little to admire in it save its gold. It must be further
admitted, that Sarmiento has no design to impose on his
reader, and that he is careful to distinguish between what he
reports on hearsay, and what on personal experience. The
Father of History himself does not discriminate between these
two things more carefully.

Neither is the Spanish historian to be altogether vindicated

xo8 Conquest of Peru

from the superstition which belongs to his time ; and we often
find him referring to the immediate interposition of Satan those
effects which might quite as well be charged on the perverseness
of man. But this was common to the age, and to the wisest
men in it : and it is too much to demand of a man to be wiser
than his generation. It is sufficient praise of Sarmiento, that,
in an age when superstition was too often allied with fanaticism,
he seems to have had no tincture of bigotry in his nature. His
heart opens with benevolent fulness to the unfortunate native ;
and his language, while it is not kindled into the religious glow
of the missionary, is warmed by a generous ray of philanthropy,
that embraces the conquered, no less than the conquerors, as
his brethren.

Notwithstanding the great value of Sarmiento’s work for the
information it affords of Peru under the Incas, it is but little
known, has been rarely consulted by historians, and still
remains among the unpublished manuscripts, which lie, like
uncoined bullion, in the secret chambers of the Escurial.

The other authority to whom I have alluded, the Licentiate
Polo de Ondegardo, was a highly respectable jurist, whose
name appears frequently in the affairs of Peru. I find no
account of the period when he first came into the country.
But he was there on the arrival of Gasca, and resided at Lima
under the usurpation of Gonzalo Pizarro. When the artful
Cepeda endeavoured to secure the signatures of the inhabitants
to the instrument proclaiming the sovereignty of his chief,
we find Ondegardo taking the lead among those of his pro¬
fession in resisting it. On Gasca’s arrival, he consented to
take a commission in his army. At the close of the rebellion
he was made corregidor of La Plata, and subsequently of
Cuzco, in which honourable station he seems to have remained
several years. In the exercise of his magisterial functions, he
was brought into familiar intercourse with the natives, and had
ample opportunity for studying their laws and ancient customs.
He conducted himself with such prudence and moderation,
that he seems to have won the confidence, not only of his
countrymen, but of the Indians ; while the administration was
careful to profit by his large experience in devising measures
for the better government of the colony.

The Relaciones, so often cited in this History, were prepared
at the suggestion of the viceroys, the first being addressed to
the Marquis de Canete, in 1561, and the second, ten years
later, to the Conde de Nieva. The two cover about as much
ground as Sarmiento’s manuscript ; and the second memorial,

Civilisation of the Incas 109

written so long after the first, may be thought to intimate the
advancing age of the author, in the greater carelessness and
diffuseness of the composition.

As these documents are in the nature of answers to the
interrogatories propounded by government, the range of topics
might seem to be limited within narrower bounds than the modern
historian would desire. These queries, indeed, had particular
reference to the revenues, tributes, — the financial administra¬
tion, in short of the Incas ; and on these obscure topics the
communication of Ondegardo is particularly full. But the
enlightened curiosity of government embraced a far wider
range; and the answers necessarily implied an acquaintance
with the domestic policy of the Incas, with their laws, social
habits, their religion, science, and arts, in short, with all that
make up the elements of civilisation. Ondegardo's memoirs,
therefore, cover the whole ground of inquiry for the philosophic
historian.

In the management of these various subjects Ondegardo
displays both acuteness and erudition. He never shrinks from
the discussion, however difficult ; and while he gives his con¬
clusions with an air of modesty, it is evident that he feels
conscious of having derived his information through the most
authentic channels. He rejects the fabulous with disdain ;
decides on the probabilities of such facts as he relates, and
candidly exposes the deficiency of evidence. Far from display¬
ing the simple enthusiasm of the well-meaning but credulous
missionary, he proceeds with the cool and cautious step of a
lawyer, accustomed to the conflict of testimony and the un¬
certainty of oral tradition. This circumspect manner of pro¬
ceeding, and the temperate character of his judgments, entitle
Ondegardo to much higher consideration as an authority
than most of his countrymen who have treated of Indian
antiquities.

There runs through his writings a vein of humanity, shown
particularly in his tenderness to the unfortunate natives, to
whose ancient civilisation he does entire, but not extravagant
justice ; while, like Sarmiento, he fearlessly denounces the
excesses of his own countrymen, and admits the dark reproach
they had brought on the honour of the nation. But while this
censure forms the strongest ground for condemnation of the
Conquerors, since it comes from the lips of a Spaniard like
themselves, it proves also that Spain in this age of violence
could send forth from her bosom wise and good men, who
refused to make common cause with the licentious rabble

I IO

Conquest of Peru

around them. Indeed, proof enough is given in these very
memorials of the unceasing efforts of the colonial government,
from the good viceroy Mendoza downwards, to secure protection
and the benefit of a mild legislation to the unfortunate natives.
But the iron Conquerors, and the colonist whose heart softened
only to the touch of gold, presented a formidable barrier to
improvement.

Ondegardo’s writings are honourably distinguished by freedom
from that superstition which is the debasing characteristic of
the times ; a superstition shown in the easy credit given to the
marvellous, and this equally whether in heathen or in Christian
story ; for in the former the eye of credulity could discern as
readily the direct interposition of Satan, as in the latter the
hand of the Almighty. It is this ready belief in a spiritual
agency, whether for good or for evil, which forms one of the
most prominent features in the writings of the sixteenth century.
Nothing could be more repugnant to the true spirit of philo¬
sophical inquiry, or more irreconcilable with rational criticism.
Far from betraying such weakness, Ondegardo writes in a
direct and business-like manner, estimating things for what
they are worth by the plain rule of common-sense. He keeps
the main object of his argument ever in view, without allowing
himself, like the garrulous chroniclers of the period, to be led
astray into a thousand rambling episodes, that bewilder the
reader and lead to nothing.

Ondegardo’s memoirs dealt not only with the antiquities of
the nation, but with its actual condition, and with the best
means for redressing the manifold evils to which it was sub¬
jected under the stern rule of its conquerors. His suggestions
are replete with wisdom, and a merciful policy, that would
reconcile the interests of government with the prosperity and
happiness of its humblest vassal. Thus, while his contem¬
poraries gathered light from his suggestions as to the present
condition of affairs, the historian of later times is no less
indebted to him for information in respect to the past. His
manuscript was freely consulted by Herrera, and the reader,
as he peruses the pages of the learned historian of the Indies,
is unconsciously enjoying the benefit of the researches of
Ondegardo. His valuable Relaciones thus had their uses for
future generations, though they have never been admitted
to the honours of the press. The copy in my possession, like
that of Sarmiento’s manuscript, for which I am indebted to
that industrious bibliographer, Mr. Rich, formed part of the
magnificent collection of Lord Kingsborough, — a name ever-

Civilisation of the Incas iii

to be held in honour by the scholar, for his indefatigable
efforts to illustrate the antiquities of America.

Ondegardo’s manuscripts, it should be remarked, do not
bear his signature. But they contain allusions to several
actions of the writer’s life which identify them, beyond any
reasonable doubt, as his production. In the archives of
Simancas is a duplicate copy of the first memorial, Relation
Primer a, though, like the one in the Escurial, without its
author’s name. Munoz assigns it to the pen of Gabriel de
Rojas, a distinguished cavalier of the Conquest. This is
clearly an error; for the author of the manuscript identifies
himself with Ondegardo, by declaring, in his reply to the fifth
interrogatory, that he was the person who discovered the
mummies of the Incas in Cuzco ; an act expressly referred,
both by Acosta and Garcilasso, to the Licentiate Polo de
Ondegardo, when corregidor of that city.— Should the savans
of Madrid hereafter embrace among the publications of valu¬
able manuscripts these Relationes, they should be careful not
to be led into an error here, by the authority of a critic like
Munoz, whose criticism is rarely at fault.

BOOK il

DISCOVERY OF PERU

CHAPTER I

ANCIENT AND MODERN SCIENCE — ART OF NAVIGATION-
MARITIME DISCOVERY - SPIRIT OF THE SPANIARDS - POS¬
SESSIONS IN THE NEW WORLD - RUMOURS CONCERNING

PERU

Whatever difference of opinion may exist as to the com¬
parative merits of the ancients and the moderns in the arts,
in poetry, eloquence, and all that depends on imagination,
there can be no doubt that in science the moderns have
eminently the advantage. It could not be otherwise. In the
early ages of the world, as in the early period of life, there was
the freshness of a morning existence, when the gloss of novelty
was on everything that met the eye ; when the senses, not
blunted by familiarity, were more keenly alive to the beautiful ;
and the mind under the influence of a healthy and natural
taste, was not perverted by philosophical theory ; when the
simple was necessarily connected with the beautiful ; and the
epicurean intellect, sated by repetition, had not begun to seek
for stimulants in the fantastic and capricious. The realms of
fancy were all untravelled, and its fairest flowers had not been
gathered nor its beauties despoiled by the rude touch of those
who affected to cultivate them. The wing of genius was not
bound to the earth by the cold and conventional rules of
criticism, but was permitted to take its flight far and wide
over the broad expanse of creation.

But with science it was otherwise. No genius could suffice
for the creation of facts, hardly for their detection. They
were to be gathered in by painful industry ; to be collected
from careful observation and experiment. Genius indeed
might arrange and combine these facts into new forms, and
elicit from their combinations new and important inferences ;
and in this process might almost rival in originality the
creations of the poet and the artist. But if the processes of
science are necessarily slow, they are sure : there is no retro¬
grade movement in her domain. Arts may fade, the muse
become dumb, a moral lethargy may lock up the faculties

1 12

Discovery of Peru 113

of a nation, the nation itself may pass away and leave only the
memory of its existence, but the stores of science it has
garnered up will endure for ever. As other nations come upon
the stage, and new lorms of civilisation arise, the monuments
of art and of imagination, productions of an older time, will
lie as an obstacle in the path of improvement. They cannot
be built upon ; they occupy the ground which the new aspirant
for immortality would cover. The whole work is to be gone
over again ; and other forms of beauty, whether higher or
lower in the scale of merit, but unlike the past, must arise to
take a place by their side ; but, in science, every stone that
has been laid remains as the foundation for another. The
coming generation takes up the work where the preceding left
it. There is no retrograde movement. The individual nation
may recede, but science still advances. Every step that has
been gained makes the ascent easier for those who come after ;
every step carries the patient inquirer after truth higher and
higher towards heaven, and unfolds to him as he rises a wider
horizon, and new and more magnificent views of the universe.

Geography partook of the embarrassments which belonged
to every other department of science in the primitive ages of
the world. The knowledge of the earth could come only from
an extended commerce ; and commerce is founded on artificial
wants or an enlightened curiosity, hardly compatible with the
earlier condition of society. In the infancy of nations, the
different tribes, occupied with their domestic feuds, found few
occasions to wander beyond the mountain chain or broad
stream that formed the natural boundary of their domains.
The Phoenicians, it is true, are said to have sailed beyond the
Pillars of Hercules, and to have launched out on the great
western ocean. But the adventures of these ancient voyagers
belong to the mythic legends of antiquity, and ascend far
beyond the domain of authentic record.

The Greeks, quick and adventurous, skilled in mechanical
art, had many of the qualities of successful navigators, and
within the limits of their little inland sea ranged fearlessly and
freely. But the conquests of Alexander did more to extend
the limits of geographical science, and opened an acquaintance
with the remote countries of the East. Yet the march of the
conqueror is slow in comparison with the movements of the
unencumbered traveller. The Romans were still less enter¬
prising than the Greeks, were less commercial in their character.
The contributions to geographical knowledge grew with the
slow acquisitions of empire. But their system was centralising

1 14 Conquest of Peru

in its tendency ; and, instead of taking an outward direction,
and looking abroad for discovery, every part of the vast
imperial domain turned towards the capital as its head and
central point of attraction. The Roman conqueror pursued
his path by land, not by sea. But the water is the great
highway between nations, the true element for the discoverer.
The Romans were not a maritime people. At the close of
their empire, geographical science could hardly be said to
extend farther than to an acquaintance with Europe, and this
not its more northern division, together with a portion of Asia
and Africa ; while they had no other conception of a world
beyond the western waters than was to be gathered from the
fortunate prediction of the poet.1

Then followed the Middle Ages, the dark ages as they are
called, though in their darkness were matured those seeds of
knowledge which, in fulness of time, were to spring up into
new and more glorious forms of civilisation. The organisation
of society became more favourable to geographical science.
Instead of one overgrown lethargic empire, oppressing every¬
thing by its colossal weight, Europe wsls broken up into various
independent communities, many of which, adopting liberal
forms of government, felt all the impulses natural to freemen ;
and the petty republics on the Mediterranean and the Baltic
sent forth their swarms of seamen in a profitable commerce,
that knit together the different countries scattered along the
great European waters.

But the improvements which took place in the art of navi¬
gation, the more accurate measurement of time, and, above
all, the discovery of the polarity of the magnet, greatly advanced
the cause of geographical knowledge. Instead of creeping
timidly along the coast, or limiting his expeditions to the
narrow basins of inland waters, the voyager might now spread
his sails boldly on the deep, secure of a guide to direct his
bark unerringly across the illimitable waste. The conscious-

1 Seneca’s well-known prediction, in his Medea, is, perhaps, the most
remarkable random prophecy on record. For it is not a simple extension
of the boundaries of the known parts of the globe that is so confidently
announced, but the existence of a New World across the waters, to be
revealed in coming ages.

“Quibus Oceanus
Vincula rerum laxet, et ingens
Pateat tellus, Typhisque Novos
Detegat Orbes.”

It was the lucky hit of the philosopher rather than the poet.

Discovery of Peru 115

: ness of this power led thought to travel in a new direction ;
: and the mariner began to look with earnestness for another
1 path to the Indian Spice Islands than that by which the
! Eastern caravans had traversed the continent of Asia. The
i nations on whom the spirit of enterprise at this crisis naturally
descended were Spain and Portugal, placed as they were on
the outposts of the European continent, commanding the great
theatre of future discovery.

Both countries felt the responsibility of their new position.
The crown of Portugal was constant in its efforts, through the
fifteenth century, to find a passage round the southern point
of Africa into the Indian Ocean ; though, so timid was the
navigation, that every fresh headland became a formidable
barrier, and it was not till the latter part of the century that
the adventurous Diaz passed quite round the Stormy Cape, as
he termed it, but which John the Second, with happier augury,
called the Cape of Good Hope. But, before Vasco de Gama
had availed himself of this discovery to spread his sails in the
Indian seas, Spain entered on her glorious career, and sent
Columbus across the western waters.

The object of the great navigator was still the discovery of
a route to India, but by the west instead of the east. He had
no expectation of meeting with a continent in his way ; and,
after repeated voyages, he remained in his original error,
dying, as is well known, in the conviction that it was the
eastern shore of Asia which he had reached. It was the same
object which directed the nautical enterprises of those who
followed in the Admiral’s track ; and the discovery of a strait
into the Indian Ocean was the burden of every order from the
government, and the design of many an expedition to different
points of the new continent, which seemed to stretch its
leviathan length along from one pole to the other. The dis¬
covery of an Indian passage is the true key to the maritime
movements of the fifteenth and the first half of the sixteenth
centuries. It was the great leading idea that gave the
character to the enterprise of the age.

It is not easy at this time to comprehend the impulse given
to Europe by the discovery of America. It was not the
gradual acquisition of some border territory, a province, or a
kingdom that had been gained, but a New World that was
now thrown open to the European. The races of animals, the
mineral treasures, the vegetable forms, and the varied aspects
of nature, man in the different phases of civilisation, filled the
mind with entirely new sets of ideas, that changed the habitual

n6 Conquest of Peru

current of thought and stimulated it to indefinite conjecture.
The eagerness to explore the wonderful secrets of the new
hemisphere became so active, that the principal cities of Spain
were, in a manner, depopulated, as emigrants thronged one
after another to take their chance upon the deep.1 It was a
world of romance that was thrown open ; for, whatever might
be the luck of the adventurer, his reports on his return were
tinged with a colouring of romance that stimulated still higher
the sensitive fancies of his countrymen, and nourished the
chimerical sentiments of an age of chivalry. They listened
with attentive ears to tales of Amazons, which seemed to
realise the classic legends of antiquity, to stories of Patagonian
giants, to flaming pictures of an El Dorado , where the sands
sparkled with gems, and golden pebbles as large as birds’ eggs
were dragged in nets out of the rivers.

Yet that the adventurers were no impostors, but dupes, too
easy dupes of their own credulous fancies, is shown by the
extravagant character of their enterprises ; by expeditions in
search of the magical Fountain of Health, of the golden
Temple of Doboyba, of the golden sepulchres of Zenu ; for
gold was ever floating before their distempered vision, and the
name of Castilla del Oro , Golden Castile, the most unhealthy
and unprofitable region of the Isthmus, held out a bright
promise to the unfortunate settler, who too frequently instead
of gold found there only his grave.

In this realm of enchantment all the accessories served to
maintain the illusion. The simple natives, with their defence¬
less bodies and rude weapons, were no match for the European
warrior armed to the teeth in mail. The odds were as great
as those found in any legend of chivalry, where the lance of
the good knight overturned hundreds at a touch. The perils
that lay in the discoverer’s path, and the sufferings he had to
sustain, were scarcely inferior to those that beset the knight-
errant. Hunger and thirst and fatigue, the deadly effluvia of
the morass, with its swarms of venomous insects, the cold of
mountain snows and the scorching sun of the tropics, these
were the lot of every cavalier who came to seek his fortunes in
the New World. It was the reality of romance. The life of

1 The Venetian ambassador, Andrea Navagiero, who travelled through
Spain in 1525, near the period of the commencement of our narrative,
notices the general fever of emigration. Seville, in particular, the great
port of embarkation, was so stripped of its inhabitants, he says, “ that the
city was left almost to the women.”

Discovery of Peru 117

the Spanish adventurer was one chapter more, and not the least
remarkable, in the chronicles of knight-errantry.

The character of the warrior took somewhat of the ex¬
aggerated colouring shed over his exploits. Proud and vain¬
glorious, swelled with lofty anticipations of his destiny, and
an invincible confidence in his own resources, no danger could
appal and no toil could tire him. The greater the danger,
indeed, the higher the charm ; for his soul revelled in excite¬
ment, and the enterprise without peril wanted that spur of
romance which was necessary to rouse his energies into
action. Yet in the motives of action meaner influences were
strangely mingled with the loftier, the temporal with the
spiritual. Gold was the incentive and the recompense, and
in the pursuit of it his inflexible nature rarely hesitated
as to the means. Plis courage was sullied with cruelty, the
cruelty that flowed equally — strange as it may seem — from his
avarice and his religion ; religion as it was understood in that
age, — the religion of the Crusader. It was the convenient
cloak for a multitude of sins, which covered them even from
himself. The Castilian, too proud for hypocrisy, committed
more cruelties in the name of religion than were ever practised
by the pagan idolator or the fanatical Moslem. The burning
of the infidel was a sacrifice acceptable to Heaven, and the
conversion of those who survived amply atoned for the foulest
offences. It is a melancholy and mortifying consideration,
that the most uncompromising spirit of intolerance — the spirit
of the Inquisitor at home, and of the Crusader abroad — should
have emanated from a religion which preached peace upon
earth and good-will towards man !

What a contrast did these children of Southern Europe
present to the Anglo-Saxon races who scattered themselves
along the great northern division of the western hemisphere !
For the principle of action with these latter was not avarice,
nor the more specious pretext of proselytism ; but independence,
— independence religious and political. To secure this they
were content to earn a bare subsistence by a life of frugality
and toil. They asked nothing from the soil, but the reasonable
returns of their own labour. No golden visions threw a
deceitful halo around their path, and beckoned them onwards
through seas of blood to the subversion of an unoffending
dynasty. They were content with the slow, but steady progress
of their social polity. They patiently endured the privations
of the wilderness, watering the tree of liberty with their tears
and with the sweat of their brow, till it took deep root in the

1 1 8 Conquest of Peru

land and sent up its branches high towards the heavens ; while
the communities of the neighbouring continent, shooting up
into the sudden splendours of a tropical vegetation, exhibited
even in their prime, the sure symptoms of decay.

It would seem to have been especially ordered by Providence
that the discovery of the two great divisions of the American
hemisphere should fall to the two races best fitted to conquer
and colonise them. Thus, the northern section was consigned
to the Anglo-Saxon race, whose orderly, industrious habits
found an ample field for development under its colder skies
and on its more rugged soil ; while the southern portion, with
its rich tropical products and treasures of mineral wealth, held
out the most attractive bait to invite the enterprise of the
Spaniard. How different might have been the result, if the
bark of Columbus had taken a more northerly direction, as he
at one time meditated, and landed its band of adventurers on
the shores of what is now Protestant America !

Under the pressure of that spirit of nautical enterprise which
filled the maritime communities of Europe in the sixteenth
century, the whole extent of the mighty continent, from
Labrador to Terra del Fuego, was explored in less than
thirty years after its discovery: and in 1521, the Portuguese
Maghellan, sailing under the Spanish flag, solved the problem
of the strait, and found a westerly way to the long-sought Spice
Islands of India, — greatly to the astonishment of the Portuguese,
who sailing from the opposite direction, there met their rivals,
face to face, at the antipodes. But while the whole eastern
coast of the American continent had been explored, and the
central portion of it colonised, — even after the brilliant achieve¬
ment of the Mexican conquest, the veil was not yet raised that
hung over the golden shores of the Pacific.

Floating rumours had reached the Spaniards, from time to
time, of countries in the far west, teeming with the metal they
so much coveted ; but the first distinct notice of Peru was
about the year 1511, when Vasco Nunez de Balboa, the
discoverer of the Southern Sea, was weighing some gold which
he had collected from the natives. A young barbarian chieftain,
who was present, struck the scales with his fist, and scattering
the glittering metal around the apartment, exclaimed, — “ If
this is what you prize so much that you are willing to leave
your distant homes, and risk even life itself for it, I can tell
you of a land where they eat and drink out of golden vessels,
and gold is as cheap as iron is with you.” It was not long
after this startling intelligence that Balboa achieved the formid-

Discovery of Peru 119

able adventure of scaling the mountain rampart of the isthmus
which divides the two miahtv oceans from each other ; when,
armed with sword and buckler, he rushed into the waters of
the Pacific, and cried out, in the true chivalrous vein, that “ he
claimed this unknown sea with all that it contained for the
king of Castile, and that he would make good the claim against
all, Christian or infidel, who dared to gainsay it ! ” 1 All the
broad continent and sunny isles washed by the wraters of the
Southern Ocean ! Little did the bold cavalier comprehend
the full import of his magnificent vaunt.

On this spot he received more implicit tidings of the Peruvian
empire, heard proofs recounted of its civilisation, and was
shown drawings of the llama, which, to the European eye,
seemed a species of the Arabian camel. But although he
steered his caravel for these golden realms, and even pushed
his discoveries some twenty leagues south of the Gulf of St.
Michael, the adventure was not reserved for him. The
illustrious discoverer wTas doomed to fall a victim to that
miserable jealousy wfith which a little spirit regards the
achievements of a great one.

The Spanish colonial domain was broken up into a number
of petty governments, which were dispensed sometimes to
court favourites, though, as the duties of the post, at this early
period, were of an arduous nature, they were more frequently
reserved for men of some practical talent and enterprise.
Columbus, by virtue of his original contract with the Crown,
had jurisdiction over the territories discovered by himself,
embracing some of the principal islands, and a few places on
the continent. This jurisdiction differed from that of other
functionaries, inasmuch as it was hereditary ; a privilege found
in the end too considerable for a subject, and commuted,
therefore, for a title and a pension. These colonial govern¬
ments were multiplied with the increase of empire, and by
the year 1524, the period at which our narrative properly
commences, were scattered over the islands, along the Isthmus
of Darien, the broad tract of Terra Firma, and the recent
conquest of Mexico. Some of these governments were of no
great extent. Others, like that of Mexico, were of the
dimensions of a kingdom ; and most had an indefinite range
for discovery assigned to them in their immediate neighbour¬
hood, by which each of the petty potentates might enlarge his
territorial sway, and enrich his followers and himself. This

1 Herrera, Hist. General, dec. i. lib. x. cap. ii. — Quintana, Vidas de
Espanoles Celebres, (Madrid, 1830,) tom. ii. p. 44*

120

Conquest of Peru

politic arrangement best served the ends of the Crown, by
affording a perpetual incentive to the spirit of enterprise. Thus
living on their own little domains at a long distance from the
mother-country, these military rulers held a sort of vice-regal
sway, and too frequently exercised it in the most oppressive
and tyrannical manner : oppressive to the native, and tyrannical
towards their own followers. It was the natural consequence,
when men originally low in station, and unprepared by
education for office, were suddenly called to the possession
of a brief, but in its nature irresponsible, authority. It was
not till after some sad experience of these results, that measures
were taken to hold these petty tyrants in check, by means of
regular tribunals, or Royal Audiences, as they were termed,
which, composed of men of character and learning, might in¬
terpose the arm of the law, or at least the voice of remonstrance,
for the protection of both colonist and native.

Among the colonial governors who were indebted for their
situation to their rank at home, was Don Pedro Ariusde Avila,
or Pedrarias, as usually called. He was married to a daughter
of Doha Beatriz de Bobadilla, the celebrated Marchioness of
Moya, best known as the friend of Isabella the Catholic. He
was a man of some military experience and considerable energy
of character. But, as it proved, he was of a malignant temper ;
and the base qualities, which might have passed unnoticed in
the obscurity of private life, were made conspicuous, and
perhaps created in some measure, by sudden elevation to
power ; as the sunshine, which operates kindly on a generous
soil, and stimulates it to production, calls forth from the un¬
wholesome marsh only foul and pestilent vapours. This man
was placed over the territory of Casiilta del Oro> the ground
selected by Nunez de Balboa for the theatre of his discoveries.
Success drew on this latter the jealousy of his superior, for it
was crime enough in the eyes of Pedrarias to deserve too well.
The tragical history of this cavalier belongs to a period
somewhat earlier than that with which we are to be occupied.
It has been traced by abler hands than mine, and though
brief, forms one of the most brilliant passages in the annals
of the American conquerors.1

1 The memorable adventures of Vasco Nunez de Balboa have been
recorded by Quintana, (Espanoles Celebres, tom. ii. , ) and by Irving in
his Companions of Columbus. — It is rare that the life of an individual has
formed the subject of two such elegant memorials produced at nearly the
same time, and in different languages, without any communication between
the authors.

1 2 I

Discovery of Peru

But though Pedrarias was willing to cut short the glorious
career of his rival, he was not insensible to the important
consequences of his discoveries. He saw at once the unsuit¬
ableness of Darien for prosecuting expeditions on the Pacific,
and conformably to the original suggestion of Balboa, in 1519,
he caused his rising capital to be transferred from the shores
of the Atlantic to the ancient site of Panama, some distance
east of the present city of that name.1 This most unhealthy spot,
the cemetery of many an unfortunate colonist, was favourably
situated for the great object of maritime enterprise; and the
port, from its central position, afforded the best point of de¬
parture for expeditions, whether to the north or south, along
the wide range of undiscovered coast that lined the Southern
Ocean. Yet in this new and more favourable position, several
years were suffered to elapse before the course of discovery
took the direction of Peru. This was turned exclusively
towards the north, or rather west, in obedience to the orders
of government, which had ever at heart the detection of a strait
that, as was supposed, must intersect some part or other of the
long-extended Isthmus. Armament after armament was fitted
out with this chimerical object ; and Pedrarias saw his domain
extending every year farther and farther, without deriving any
considerable advantage from his acquisitions. Veragua, Costa
Rica, Nicaragua, were successively occupied ; and his brave
cavaliers forced a way across forest and mountain and warlike
tribes of savages, till, at Honduras, they came in collision with
the companions of Cortes, the conquerors of Mexico, who had
descended from the great northern plateau on the regions of
Central America, and thus completed the survey of this wild
and mysterious land.

It was not till 1522 that a regular expedition was despatched
in the direction south of Panama, under the conduct of Pascual
de Andagoya, a cavalier of much distinction in the colony.

1 The Court gave positive instructions to Pedrarias to make a settlement
in the Gulf of St. Michael, in obedience to the suggestion of Vasco Nunez,
that it would be the most eligible site for discovery and traffic in the South
Sea. “El asiento, que se oviere de hacer en el golfo de S. Miguel en el
; mar del sur debe ser en el puerto que mejor se hallare y mas convenible
para la contratacion de aquel golfo porque segund lo que Vasco Nunez
escribe, seria may necesario que al 1 f haya algunos navfos, asf para descu-
brir las cosas del golfo ; y de la comarca del, como para la contratacion de
rescates de las otras cosas necesarias al buen proveimiento de aquello ; 6
para que estos navfos aprovechen es menester que se hagan alia. ’ — Capftulo
de Carta escrita por el Key Catolico a Pedrarias Davila, ap. Navarrete
Coleccion de los Vinges y Descubrimientos, (Madrid, 1829,) tom. iii. No. 3.

F 3oi

122

Conquest of Peru

But that officer penetrated only to the Puerto de Pinas, the
limit of Balboa’s discoveries, when the bad state of his health
compelled him to re-embark and abandon his enterprise at its
commencement. 1

Yet the floating rumours of the wealth and civilisation of a
mighty nation at the South were continually reaching the ears
and kindling the dreamy imaginations of the colonists ; and it
may seem astonishing that an expedition in that direction
should have been so long deferred. But the exact position
and distance of this fairy realm were matter of conjecture. The
long tract of intervening country was occupied by rude and
warlike races ; and the little experience which the Spanish
navigators had already had of the neighbouring coast and its
inhabitants, and still more the tempestuous character of the
seas — for their expeditions had taken place at the most
unpropitious seasons of the year — enhanced the apparent
difficulties of the undertaking, and made even their stout
hearts shrink from it.

Such was the state of feeling in the little community of
Panama for several years after its foundation. Meanwhile,
the dazzling conquest of Mexico gave a new impulse to the
ardour of discovery, and, in 1524, three men were found in the
colony, in whom the spirit of adventure triumphed over every
consideration of difficulty and danger that obstructed the
prosecution of the enterprise. One among them was selected
as fitted by his character to conduct it to a successful issue.
That man was Francisco Pizarro ; and as he held the same
conspicuous post in the Conquest of Peru that was occupied by
Cortes in that of Mexico, it will be necessary to take a brief
review of his early history.

1 According to Montesinos, Andagoya received a severe injury by a fall
from his horse, while showing off the high-mettled animal to the wondering
eyes of the natives. (Annales del Peru, MS., aho 1524.) But the Adelan-
tado, in a memorial of his own discoveries, drawn up by himself, says
nothing of this unluck y feat of horsemanship, but imputes his illness to his
having fallen into the water, an accident by which he was near being drowned,
so that it was some years before he recovered from the effects of it ; a mode
of accounting for his premature return, more soothing to his vanity, prob¬
ably, than the one usually received. This document, important as coming
from the pen of one of the primitive discoverers, is preserved in the Indian
Archives of Seville, and was published by Navarrete, Coleccion, tom. iii.
No. 7.

Discovery of Peru

123

CHAPTER II

FRANCISCO PTZARRO - HIS EARLY HISTORY— FIRST EXPEDITION

TO THE SOUTH - DISTRESSES OF THE VOYAGERS — SHARP EN¬
COUNTERS — RETURN TO PANAMA - ALMAGRO’S EXPEDITION

I524— 1525

Francisco Pizarro was born at Truxillo, a city of Estre-
madura, in Spain. The period of his birth is uncertain ; but
probably it was not far from 147 1.1 He was an illegitimate
child, and that his parents should not have taken pains to
perpetuate the date of his birth is not surprising. Few care to
make a particular record of their transgressions. His father,
Gonzalo Pizarro, was a colonel of infantry, and served with
some distinction in the Italian campaigns under the Great
Captain, and afterwards in the wars of Navarre. His mother,
named Francisca Gonzales, was a person of humble condition
in the town of Truxillo.2

But little is told of Francisco’s early years, and that little not
always deserving of credit. According to some, he was deserted
by both his parents, and left as a foundling at the door of one
of the principal churches of the city. It is even said that he
would have perished, had he not been nursed by a sow.3 This
is a more discreditable fountain of supply than that assigned to

1 The few writers who venture to assign the date of Pizarro's birth, do it
in so vague and contradictoiy a manner as to inspire us but with little con¬
fidence in their accounts. Herrera, it is true, says positively, that he was
sixty-three years old at the time of his death, in 1 541. (Hist. General, dec.
vi. lib. x. cap. vi.) This would carry back the date of his birth only to 1478.
But Garcilasso de la Vega affirms that he was more than fifty years old in
1525. (Com. Real., parte ii. lib. i. cap. i.) This would place his birth
before 1475. Pizarro y Orellana, who, as a kinsman of the Conqueror,
;may be supposed to have had better means of information, says he was
fifty-four years of age at the same date of 1525. (Varones Ilustres del
Nuevo Mundo, [Madrid, 1639,] p. 128.) But at the period of his death he
calls him nearly eighty years old ! (p. 185.) Taking this latter as a round
exaggeration for effect in the particular connection in which it is used, and
admitting the accuracy of the former statement, the epoch of his birth will
conform to that given in the text. This makes him somewhat late in life to
set about the conquest of an empire. But Columbus, when he entered on
his career, was still older.

2 Xerez, Conquista del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. iii. p. 179. — Zarate, Conq.
del Peru, lib. i. cap. i. — Pizarro y Orellana, Varones Ilustres, p. 128.

8 “Nacio en Truxillo, i echaronlo & la puerta de la Iglesia, mamo una
Puerca ciertos Dias, no so hallando quien le quisiese d&r ieche.” — Gomara,
Hist, de las Ind. . cap. cxliv.

124 Conquest of Peru

the infant Romulus. The early history of men who have made
their names famous by deeds in after-life, like the early history
of nations, affords a fruitful field for invention.

It seems certain that the young Pizarro received little care
from either of his parents, and was suffered to grow up as
nature dictated. He was neither taught to read nor write, and
his principal occupation was that of a swine-herd. But this
torpid way of life did not suit the stirring spirit of Pizarro, as
he grew older, and listened to the tales, widely circulated, and
so captivating to a youthful fancy, of the New World. He
shared in the popular enthusiasm, and availed himself of a
favourable movement to abandon his ignoble charge, and
escape to Seville, the port where the Spanish adventurers
embarked to seek their fortunes in the west. Few of them
could have turned their backs on their native land with less
cause for regret than Pizarro.1

In what year this important change in his destiny took place
we are not informed. The first we hear of him in the New
World is at the island of Hispaniola, in 1510, where he took
part in the expedition to Uraba in Terra Firma, under Alonzo
de Ojeda, a cavalier whose character and achievements find no
parallel but in the pages of Cervantes. Hernando Cortes,
whose mother was a Pizarro, and related, it is said, to the
father of Francis, was then in St. Domingo, and prepared to
accompany Ojeda’s expedition, but was prevented by a tempor¬
ary lameness. Had he gone, the fall of the Aztec empire might
have been postponed for some time longer, and the sceptre of
Montezuma have descended in peace to his posterity. Pizarro
shared in the disastrous fortunes of Ojeda’s colony, and, by his
discretion, obtained so far the confidence of his commander, as
to be left in charge of the settlement, when the latter returned
for supplies to the islands. The lieutenant continued at his
perilous post for nearly two months, waiting deliberately until
death should have thinned off the colony sufficiently to allow
the miserable remnant to be embarked in the single small
vessel that remained to it.2

After this, we find him associated with Balboa, the discoverer

1 According to the Comendador Pizarro y Orellana, Francis Pizarro
served, while quite a stripling, with his father, in the Italian wars ; and
afterwards, under Columbus and other illustrious discoverers, in the New
World, whose successes the author modestly attributes to his kinsman’s
valour, as a principal cause ! — Varones Ilustres, p. 187.

2 Pizarro y Orellana, Varones Ilustres, pp. 121-128. — Herrera, Hist.
Gen., dec. i. lib. vii. cap. xiv. — Montesinos, Annales, MS., ano 1510.

Discovery of Peru 125

of the Pacific, and co-operating with him in establishing the
settlement at Darien. He had the glory of accompanying this
gallant cavalier in his terrible march across the mountains, and
of being among the first Europeans, therefore, whose eyes
were greeted with the long-promised vision of the Southern
Ocean.

After the untimely death of his commander, Pizarro attached
himself to the fortunes of Pedrarias, and was employed by that
governor in several military expeditions, which, if they afforded
nothing else, gave him the requisite training for the perils and
privations that lay in the path of the future Conqueror of Peru.

In I5I5> he was selected, with another cavalier, named
Morales, to cross the Isthmus and traffic with the natives on
the shores of the Pacific. And there, while engaged in collect¬
ing his booty of gold and pearls from the neighbouring islands,
as his eye ranged along the shadowy line of coast till it faded
in the distance, his imagination may have been first fired
with the idea of one day attempting the conquest of the mys¬
terious regions beyond the mountains. On the removal of the
seat of government across the Isthmus to Panama, Pizarro
accompanied Pedrarias, and his name became conspicuous
among the cavaliers who extended the line of conquest to the
north, over the martial tribes of Veragua. But all these
expeditions, whatever glory they may have brought him, were
productive of very little gold ; and at the age of fifty, the
captain Pizarro found himself in possession only of a tract of
unhealthy land in the neighbourhood of the capital, and of such
repartwiientos of the natives as were deemed suited to his
military services.1 The New W orld was a lottery, where the great
prizes were so few that the odds were much against the player ;
yet in the game he was content to stake health, fortune, and,
too often, his fair fame.

Such was Pizarro’s situation when, in 1522, Andagoya
returned from his unfinished enterprise to the south of Panama,
bringing back with him more copious accounts than any hither¬
to received of the opulence and grandeur of the countries that
lay beyond.2 It was at this time, too, that the splendid

1 “Teniendo su casa, i Hacienda, i Repartimiento de Indios como uno de
los Principales de la Tierra ; porque siempre lo fue.” — Xerez, Conq. del
Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. iii. p. 79-

2 Andagoya says that he obtained, while at Biru, very minute accounts
of the empire of the Incas, from certain itinerant traders who frequented
that country. “ En esta provincia supe y hube relacion, ansf de los senores
como de mercaderes e interpretes que ellos tenian, de toda la costa de todo
lo que despues-seha visto hasta el Cuzco, particularmente de cada provincia

126

Conquest of Peru

achievements of Cortes made their impression on the public
mind, and gave a new impulse to the spirit of adventure. The
southern expeditions became a common topic of speculation
among the colonists of Panama. But the region of gold,
as it lay behind the mighty curtain of the Cordilleras, was still
veiled in obscurity. No idea could be formed of its actual
distance ; and the hardships and difficulties encountered by the
few navigators who had sailed in that direction gave a gloomy
character to the undertaking, which had hitherto deterred the
most daring from embarking in it. There is no evidence that
Pizarro showed any particular alacrity in the cause. Nor were
his own funds such as to warrant any expectation of success
without great assistance from others. He found this in two
individuals of the colony, who took too important a part in the
subsequent transactions not to be particularly noticed.

One of them, Diego de Almagro, was a soldier of fortune,
somewhat older, it seems probable, than Pizarro ; though little
is known of his birth, and even the place of it is disputed. It
is supposed to have been the town of Almagro, in New Castile,
whence his own name, for want of a better source, was derived ;
for, like Pizarro, he was a foundling.1 Few particulars are
known of him till the present period of our history ; for he was
one of those whom the working of turbulent times first throws
upon the surface, — less fortunate, perhaps, than if left in their
original obscurity. In his military career, Almagro had earned
the reputation of a gallant soldier. He was frank and liberal
in his disposition, somewhat hasty and ungovernable in his
passions, but like men of a sanguine temperament, after the
first sallies had passed away, not difficult to be appeased. He
had, in short, the good qualities and the defects incident to an
honest nature, not improved by the discipline of early education
or self-control.

The other member of the confederacy was Hernando de
Luque, a Spanish ecclesiastic, who exercised the functions of
vicar at Panama, and had formerly filled the office of school¬
master in the Cathedral of Darien. He seems to have been a

la manera y gente della, porque estos alcanzaban por via de mercaduria
mucha tierra.” — Navarrete, Coleccion, tom. iii. No. 7.

1 “ Decia el que hera de Almagro ” says Pedro Pizarro, who knew him
well. — Relacion del Descubrimiento y Conquista de los Reynos de Peru,
MS. — See also Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. i. cap. i. — Gomara, Hist, de las
Ind., cap. cxli. — Pizarro y Orellana, Varones Ilustres, p. 21 1. The last
writer admits that Almagro’s parentage is unknown ; but adds that the
character of his early exploits infers an illustrious descent. This would
scarcely pass for evidence with the College of Heralds.

Discovery of Peru 127

man of singular prudence and knowledge of the world ; and by
his respectable qualities had acquired considerable influence in
the little community to which he belonged, as well as the con¬
trol of funds, which made his co-operation essential to the
success of the present enterprise.

It was arranged among the three associates that the two
cavaliers should contribute their little stock towards defraying
the expenses of the armament, but by far the greater part of
the funds was to be furnished by Luque. Pizarro was to take
command of the expedition, and the business of victualling
and equipping the vessels was assigned to Almagro. The
associates found no difficulty in obtaining the consent of the
governor to their undertaking. After the return of Andagoya,
he had projected another expedition, but the officer to whom
it was to be entrusted died. Why he did not prosecute his
original purpose, and commit the affair to an experienced
captain like Pizarro, does not appear. He was probably not
displeased that the burden of the enterprise should be borne
by others, so long as a good share of the profits went into his
own coffers. This he did not overlook in his stipulations.1

Thus fortified with the funds of Luque, and the consent of
the governor, Almagro was not slow to make preparations for
the voyage. Two small vessels were purchased, the larger of
which had been originally built by Balboa for himself, with a
view to this same expedition. Since his death it had lain
dismantled in the harbour of Panama. It was now refitted
as well as circumstances would permit, and put in order for
sea, while the stores and provisions were got on board with
; an alacrity which did more credit, as the event proved, to
Almagro’s zeal than to his forecast.

There was more difficulty in obtaining the necessary comple-
\ ment of hands ; for a general feeling of distrust had gathered

1 “ Asi que estos tres companeros ya dichos Acordaron de vr a conquistar
i esta provincia ya dicha. Puea consultandolo con Pedro Arias de Avila
i que a la sazon hera governador en tierra firme. Vino en ello haziendo
. campania con los dichos compafieros con condicion que Pedro Arias no
j havia de contribuir entonces con ningun dinero ni otra cosa sino de lo que
se hallase en la tierra de lo que & el le cupiese por virtud de la compania
de alii se pagasen los gastos que a el le cupiesen. Los tres companeros

ivinieron en ello por aver esta licencia porque de otra manera no la
alcanzaran.” (Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., MS.) Andagoya, however,
affirms that the governor was interested equally with the other associates
in the adventure, each taking a fourth part on himself. (Navarrete,
iColeccion, tom. iii. No. 7.) -But whatever was the original interest of
jj Pedrarias, it mattered little, as it was surrendered before any profits
: were realised from the expedition.

128

Conquest of Peru

round expeditions in this direction, which could not readily be
overcome. But there were many idle hangers-on in the colony
*vho had come out to mend their fortunes, and were willing to
take their chance of doing so, however desperate. From such
materials as these, Almagro assembled a body of somewhat
more than a hundred men;1 and everything being ready,
Pizarro assumed the command, and, weighing anchor, took
his departure from the little port of Panama, about the middle
of November, 1524. Almagro was to follow in a second vessel
of inferior size, as soon as it could be fitted out.2

The time of year was the most unsuitable that could have
been selected for the voyage ; for it was the rainy season,
when the navigation to the south, impeded by contrary winds,
is made doubly dangerous by the tempests that sweep over the
coast. But this was not understood by the adventurers. After
touching at the Isle of Pearls, the frequent resort of navigators,
at a few leagues’ distance from Panama, Pizarro held his way
across the Gulf of St. Michael, and steered almost due south
for the Puerto de Pinas, a headland in the province of Biru-
quete, which marked the limit of Andagoya’s voyage. Before
his departure, Pizarro had obtained all the information which
he could derive from that officer in respect to the country, and
the route he was to follow. But the cavalier’s own experience
had been too limited to enable him to be of much assistance.

Doubling the Puerto de Pinas the little vessel entered the
river Biru, the misapplication of which name is supposed by
some to have given rise to that of the empire of the Incas.3
After sailing up this stream for a couple of leagues, Pizarro
came to anchor, and disembarking his whole force except the
sailors, proceeded at the head of it to explore the country.

1 Herrera, the most popular historian of these transactions, estimates the
number of Pizarro’s followers only at eighty. But every other authority
which I have consulted raises them to above a hundred. Father Naharro,
a contemporary and resident at Lima, even allows a hundred and twenty-
nine. — Relacion sumaria de la entrada de los Espanoles en el Peru, MS.

2 There is the usual discrepancy among authors about the date of this
expedition. Most fix it at 1525. I have conformed to Xerez, Pizarro’s
secretary, whose narrative was published ten years after the voyage, and
who could hardly have forgotten the date of so memorable an event, in so
short an interval of time. (See his Conquista del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom.
iii. p. 179.) The year seems to be settled by Pizarro’s Capitulacion with
the Crown, which I had not examined till after the above was written.
This instrument, dated July, 1529, speaks of his first expedition as having
taken place about five years previous. (See Appendix, No. 7.)

3 Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. L. cap. i. — Herrera, Hist. General, dec.
iii. lib. vi. cap. xiii.

Discovery of Peru 129

The land spread out into a vast swamp where the heavy rains
had settled in pools of stagnant water, and the muddy soil
afforded no footing to the traveller. This dismal morass was
fringed with woods, through whose thick and tangled under¬
growth they found it difficult to penetrate ; and emerging from
them they came out on a hilly country, so rough and rocky in
its character, that their feet were cut to the bone, and the
weary soldier, encumbered with his heavy mail or thick-padded
doublet of cotton, found it difficult to drag one foot after the
other. The heat at times was oppressive : and, fainting with
toil and famished for want of food, they sank down on the earth
from mere exhaustion. Such was the ominous commencement
of the expedition to Peru.

Pizarro, however, did not lose heart. He endeavoured to
revive the spirits of his men, and besought them not to be
discouraged by difficulties which a brave heart would be sure
to overcome, reminding them of the golden prize which awaited
those who persevered. Yet it was obvious that nothing was
to be gamed by remaining longer in this desolate region.
Returning to their vessel, therefore, it was suffered to drop
down the river, and proceed along its southern course on the
great ocean.

After coasting a few leagues, Pizarro anchored off a place
not very inviting in its appearance, where he took in a supply
of wood and water. Then, stretching more towards the open
sea, he held on in the same direction, towards the south. But
in this he was baffled by a succession of heavy tempests,
accompanied with such tremendous peals of thunder and
floods of rain as are found only in the terrible storms of the
tropics. The sea was lashed into fury, and, swelling into
mountain billows, threatened every moment to overwhelm
the crazy little bark which opened at every seam. For ten
days the unfortunate voyagers were tossed about by the pitiless
elements, and it was only by incessant exertions — the exertions
of despair — that they preserved the ship from foundering. To
add to their calamities, their provisions began to fail, and they
were short of water, of which they had been furnished only
with a small number of casks ; for Almagro had counted on
their recruiting their scanty supplies, from time to time, from
the shore. Their meat was wholly consumed, and they were
reduced to the wretched allowance of two ears of Indian corn
a day for each man.

Thus harassed by hunger and the elements, the battered
voyagers were too happy to retrace their course and regain the
*F 301

130 Conquest of Peru

port where they had last taken in supplies of wood and water.
Yet nothing could be more unpromising than the aspect of the
country. It had the same character of low, swampy soil, that
distinguished the former landing-place ; while thick-matted
forests, of a depth which the eye could not penetrate, stretched
along the coast to an interminable length. It was in vain that
the wearied Spaniards endeavoured to thread the mazes of this
tangled thicket, where the creepers and flowering vines, that
shoot up luxuriant in a hot and humid atmosphere, had twined
themselves round the huge trunks of the forest-trees, and made
a net-work that could be opened only with the axe. The rain,
in the meantime, rarely slackened, and the ground, strewed
with leaves and saturated with moisture, seemed to slip away
beneath their feet.

Nothing could be more dreary and disheartening than the
aspect of these funereal forests ; where the exhalations from
the overcharged surface of the ground poisoned the air, and
seemed to allow no life, except that, indeed, of myriads of
insects, whose enamelled wings glanced to and fro, like
sparks of fire, in every opening of the woods. Even the
brute creation appeared instinctively to have shunned the fatal
spot, and neither beast nor bird of any description was seen
by the wanderers. Silence reigned unbroken in the heart of
these dismal solitudes ; at least, the only sounds that could be
heard were the plashing of the rain-drops on the leaves, and
the tread of the forlorn adventurers.1

Entirely discouraged by the aspect of the country, the
Spaniards began to comprehend that they had gained nothing
by changing their quarters from sea to shore, and they felt the
most serious apprehensions of perishing from famine in a
region which afforded nothing but such unwholesome berries
as they could pick up here and there in the woods. They
loudly complained of their hard lot, accusing their commander
as the author of all their troubles, and as deluding them with
promises of a fairy-land, which seemed to recede in proportion
as they advanced. It was of no use, they said, to contend
against fate, and it was better to take their chance of regaining
the Port of Panama in time to save their lives, than to wait
where they were to die of hunger.

But Pizarro was prepared to encounter much greater evils

1 Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. iii. p. 180. — Relacion de)
Primer. Descub., MS. — Montesinos, Annales, MS., ano 1515- — Zarate,
Conq. del Peru, lib. i. cap. i. — Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte ii. lib. i.
cap. vii. — Herrera, Hist. General, dec. iii. lib. vi. cap. xiii.

Discovery of Peru 13 1

than these, before returning to Panama, bankrupt in credit, an
object of derision as a vainglorious dreamer, who had persuaded
others to embark in an adventure which he had not the courage
to carry through himself. The present was his only chance.
To return would be ruin. He used every argument, therefore,
that mortified pride or avarice could suggest to turn his
followers from their purpose ; represented to them that these
were the troubles that necessarily lay in the path of the
discoverer ; and called to mind the brilliant successes of their
countrymen in other quarters, and the repeated reports, which
they had themselves received, of the rich regions along this
coast, of which it required only courage and constancy on
their part to become the masters. Yet, as their present
exigencies were pressing, he resolved to send back the
vessel to the Isle of Pearls, to lay in a fresh stock of
provisions for his company, which might enable them to go
forward with renewed confidence. The distance was not
great, and in a few days they would all be relieved from their
perilous position. The officer detached on this service was
named Montenegro ; and taking with him nearly half the
company, after receiving Pizarro’s directions, he instantly
weighed anchor, and steered for the Isle of Pearls.

On the departure of his vessel, the Spanish commander
made an attempt to explore the country, and see if some
Indian settlement might not be found, where he could procure
refreshments for his followers. But his efforts were vain, and
no trace was visible of a human dwelling; though, in the dense
and impenetrable foliage of the equatorial regions, the distance
of a few rods might suffice to screen a city from observation.
The only means of nourishment left to the unfortunate
adventurers were such shell-fish as they occasionally picked
up on the shore, or the bitter buds of the palm-tree, and such
berries and unsavoury herbs as grew wild in the woods. Some
of these were so poisonous, that the bodies of those who ate
them swelled up and were tormented with racking pains.
Others, preferring famine to this miserable diet, pined away
from weakness and actually died of starvation. Yet their
resolute leader strove to maintain his own cheerfulness and
to keep up the drooping spirits of his men. He freely
shared with them his scanty stock of provisions, was un¬
wearied in his endeavours to procure them sustenance, tended
the sick, and ordered barracks to be constructed for their
accommodation, which might, at least, shelter them from the
drenching storms of the season. By this ready sympathy with

132 Conquest of Peru

his followers in their sufferings, he obtained an ascendancy
over their rough natures, which the assertion of authority, at
least in the present extremity, could never have secured to
him.

Day after day, week after week, had now passed away, and
no tidings were heard of the vessel that was to bring relief to
the wanderers. In vain did they strain their eyes over the
distant waters to catch a glimpse of their coming friends. Not
a speck was to be seen in the blue distance, where the canoe
of the savage dared not venture, and the sail of the white man
was not yet spread. Those who had borne up bravely at
first now gave way to despondency, as they felt themselves
abandoned by their countrymen on this desolate shore. They
pined under that sad feeling which “ maketh the heart sick.”
More than twenty of the little band had already died, and the
survivors seemed to be rapidly following.1

At this crisis reports were brought to Pizarro of a light
having been seen through a distant opening in the woods.
He hailed the tidings with eagerness, as intimating the
existence of some settlement in the neighbourhood : and,
putting himself at the head of a small party, went in the
direction pointed out to reconnoitre. He wras not dis¬
appointed, and, after extricating himself from a dense
wilderness of underbrush and foliage, he emerged into an
open space, where a small Indian village was planted. The
timid inhabitants, on the sudden apparition of the strangers,
quitted their huts in dismay ; and the famished Spaniards,
rushing in, eagerly made themselves masters of their contents.
These consisted of different articles of food, chiefly maize and
cocoa-nuts. The supply, though small, was too seasonable not
to fill them with rapture.

The astonished natives made no attempt at resistance. But,
gathering more confidence as no violence was offered to their
persons, they drew nearer the white men, and inquired, “ Why
they did not stay at home and till their own lands, instead of
roaming about to rob others who had never harmed them ? ” 2
Whatever may have been their opinion as to the question of
right, the Spaniards, no doubt, felt then that it would have been
wiser to do so. But the savages wore about their persons gold

1 Herrera, Hist. General, dec. iii. lib. vi. cap. xiii. — Relacion del
Primer. Descub., MS. — Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ubi supra.

2 “ Porque decian a los Castellanos, que porque no sembraban, i cogian,
sin andar tomando los bastimentos agenos, pasando tantos trabajos?” —
Herrera, Hist. General, loc. cit.

Discovery of Peru 133

ornaments of some size, though of clumsy workmanship. This
furnished the best reply to their demand. It was the golden
bait which lured the Spanish adventurer to forsake his pleasant
home for the trials of the wilderness. From the Indians
Pizarro gathered a confirmation of the reports he had so often
received of a rich country lying farther south ; and at the
distance of ten days’ journey across the mountains, they told
him, there dwelt a mighty monarch whose dominions had been
invaded by another still more powerful, the Child of the Sun.1
It may have been the invasion of Quito that was meant, by the
valiant Inca Huayna Capac, which took place some years
previous to Pizarro’s expedition.

At length, after the expiration of more than six weeks, the
Spaniards beheld with delight the return of the wandering bark
that had borne away their comrades, and Montenegro sailed
into port with an ample supply of provisions for his famishing
countrymen. Great was his horror at the aspect presented by
the latter, their wild and haggard countenances and wasted
frames — so wasted by hunger and disease, that their old
companions found it difficult to recognise them. Montenegro
accounted for his delay by incessant head winds and bad
weather ; and he himself had also a doleful tale to tell of the
distress to which he and his crew had been reduced by hunger,
on their passage to the Isle of Pearls. It is minute incidents
like these with which we have been occupied, that enable one
to comprehend the extremity of suffering to which the Spanish
adventurer was subjected in the prosecution of his great work
of discovery.

Revived by the substantial nourishment to which they had
so long been strangers, the Spanish cavaliers, with the buoyancy
that belongs to men of a hazardous and roving life, forgot their
past distresses in their eagerness to prosecute their enterprise.
Re-embarking therefore on board his vessel, Pizarro bade adieu
to the scene of so much suffering, which he branded with the

1 “Dioles noticia el viejo por medio del lengua, como diez solos del alii
habia un Rey muy poderoso yendo por espesas montanas, y que otro mas
poderoso hijo del sol habia venido de milagro a quitarle el Reino sobre que
tenian mui sangrientas batallas.” (Montesinos, Annales, MS., ano 1525.)
The conquest of Quito by Huayna Capac took place more than thirty years
before this period in our history. But the particulars of this revolution, its
time or precise theatre, were, probably, but very vaguely comprehended by
the rude nations in the neighbourhood of Panama ; and their allusion to it
in an unknown dialect was as little comprehended by the Spanish voyagers,
who must have collected their information from signs much more than
wor ds.

134 Conquest of Peru

appropriate name of Puerto de la Hambre , the Port of Famine,
and again opened his sails to a favourable breeze that bore him
onwards towards the south.

Had he struck boldly out into the deep, instead of hugging
the inhospitable shore where he had hitherto found so little to
recompense him, he might have spared himself the repetition
of wearisome and unprofitable adventures, and reached by a
shorter route the point of his destination. But the Spanish
mariner groped his way along these unknown coasts, landing
at every convenient headland as if fearful lest some fruitful
region or precious mine might be overlooked, should a single
break occur in the line of survey. Yet it should be remembered,
that though the true point of Pizarro’s destination is obvious to
us, familiar with the topography of these countries, he was
wandering in the dark, feeling his way along inch by inch, as it
were, without chart to guide him, without knowledge of the
seas or of the bearings of the coast, and even with no better
defined idea of the object at which he aimed than that of a
land, teeming with gold, that lay somewhere at the south ! It
was a hunt after an El Dorado ; on information scarcely more
circumstantial or authentic than that which furnished the basis
of so many chimerical enterprises in this land of wonders.
Success only, the best argument with the multitude, redeemed
the expeditions of Pizarro from a similar imputation of
extravagance.

Holding on his southerly course under the lee of the shore,
Pizarro, after a short run, found himself abreast of an open
reach of country, or at least one less encumbered with wood,
which rose by a gradual swell as it receded from the coast. He
landed with a small body of men, and advancing a short
distance into the interior fell in with an Indian hamlet. It was
abandoned by the inhabitants, who, on the approach of the
invaders, had betaken themselves to the mountains ; and the
Spaniards entering their deserted dwellings, found there a good
store of maize and other articles of food, and rude ornaments
of gold of considerable value. Food was not more necessary
for their bodies than was the sight of gold, from time to time,
to stimulate their appetite for adventure. One spectacle,
however, chilled their blood with horror. This was the
sight of human flesh which they found roasting before the
fire, as the barbarians had left it, preparatory to their
obscene repast. The Spaniards, conceiving they had fallen in
with a tribe of Caribs, the only race in that part of the New
World known to be cannibals, retreated precipitately to their

Discovery of Peru 135

vessel.1 They were not steeled by sad familiarity with the
spectacle like the Conquerors of Mexico.

The weather, which had been favourable, now set in tempest¬
uous with heavy squalls, accompanied by incessant thunder and
lightning, and the rain, as usual in these tropical tempests,
descended not so much in drops as in unbroken sheets of water.
The Spaniards, however, preferred to take their chance on the
raging element rather than remain in the scene of such brutal
abominations. But the fury of the storm gradually subsided,
and the little vessel held on her way along the coast till, coming
abreast of a bold point of land named by Pizarro, Punta
Quemada, he gave orders to anchor. The margin of the shore
was fringed with a deep belt of mangrove-trees, the long roots
of which interlacing one another, formed a kind of submarine
lattice-work that made the place difficult of approach. Several
avenues opening through this tangled thicket led Pizarro to
conclude that the country must be inhabited, and he
disembarked with the greater part of his force to explore the
interior.

He had not penetrated more than a league, when he found
his conjecture verified by the sight of an Indian town of larger
size than those he had hitherto seen, occupying the brow of an
eminence, and well defended by palisades. The inhabitants,
as usual, had fled ; but left in their dwellings a good supply of
provisions and some gold trinkets, which the Spaniards made
no difficulty of appropriating to themselves. Pizarro’s flimsy
bark had been strained by the heavy gales it had of late
encountered, so that it was unsafe to prosecute the voyage
further without more thorough repairs than could be given to
her on this desolate coast. He accordingly determined to send
her back with a few hands to be careened at Panama, and
meanwhile to establish his quarters in his present position,
which was so favourable for defence. But first he despatched
a small party under Montenegro to reconnoitre the country,
and, if possible, to open a communication with the natives.

The latter were a warlike race. They had left their
habitations in order to place their wives and children in safety.
But they had kept an eye on the movements of the invaders,
dnd when they saw their forces divided, they resolved to fall
upon each body singly before it could communicate with the
other. So soon, therefore, as Montenegro had penetrated

1 “ I en las oil as de la comida, que estaban al fuego, entre la came, que
sacaban, havia pies i manos de hombres, de donde conocieron, que aquellos
[ndios eran Caribes.” — Herrera, Hist. General, dec. iii. lib. viii. cap. xi.

136 Conquest of Peru

through the defiles of the lofty hills which shoot out like spurs
of the Cordilleras along this part of the coast, the Indian
warriors, springing from their ambush, sent off a cloud of arrows
and other missiles that darkened the air, while they made the
forest ring with their shrill war-whoop. The Spaniards, as¬
tonished at the appearance of the savages with their naked
bodies gaudily painted, and brandishing their weapons as they
glanced among the trees and straggling underbrush that choked
up the defile, were taken by surprise and thrown for a moment
into disarray. Three of their number were killed and several
wounded. Yet, speedily rallying, they returned the discharge
of the assailants with their cross-bows, — for Pizarro’s troops
do not seem to have been provided with muskets on this
expedition, — and then gallantly charging the enemy, sword in
hand, succeeded in driving them back into the fastnesses of the
mountains. But it only led them, to shift their operations to
another quarter, and make an assault on Pizarro before he
could be relieved by his lieutenant.

Availing themselves of their superior knowledge of the passes,
they reached that commander’s quarters long before Montenegro,
who had commenced a counter-march in the same direction.
And issuing from the woods, the bold savages saluted the
Spanish garrison with a tempest of darts and arrows, some of
which found their way through the joints of the harness and
the quilted mail of the cavaliers. But Pizarro was too well
practised a soldier to be off his guard. Calling his men about
him, he resolved not to abide the assault tamely in the works,
but to sally out and meet the enemy on their own ground.
The barbarians who had advanced near the defences, fell back
as the Spaniards burst forth with their valiant leader at their
head. But soon returning with admirable ferocity to the charge,
they singled out Pizarro, whom, by his bold bearing and air of
authority, they easily recognised as the chief ; and hurling at
him a storm of missiles, wounded him, in spite of his armour,
in no less than seven places.1

Driven back by the fury of the assault directed against his
own person, the Spanish commander retreated down the slope
of the hill, still defending himself as he could with sword and
buckler, when his foot slipped and he fell. The enemy set up
a fierce yell of triumph, and some of the boldest sprang forward
to despatch him. But Pizarro was on his feet in an instant,

1 Naharro, Relacion Sumaria, MS. — Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia,
tom. iii. p. 180. — Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. i. cap. i. — Balboa, Hist, du
Perou, chap. xv.

Discovery of Peru 137

and, striking down two of the foremost with his strong arm,
held the rest at bay till his soldiers could come to the rescue.
The barbarians, struck with admiration at his valour, began to
falter, when Montenegro luckily coming on the ground at the
moment, and falling on their rear, completed their confusion ;
and, abandoning the field, they made the best of their
way into the recesses of the mountains. The ground was
covered with their slain ; but the victory was dearly pur¬
chased by the death of two more Spaniards and a long list of
wounded.

A council of war was then called. The position had lost its
charm in the eyes of the Spaniards, who had met here with the
first resistance they had yet experienced on their expedition.
It was necessary to place the wounded in some secure spot,
where their injuries could be attended to. Yet it was not safe
to proceed further, in the crippled state of their vessel. On
the whole, it was decided to return and report their proceedings
to the governor ; and, though the magnificent hopes of the
adventurers had not been realised, Pizarro trusted that enough
had been done to vindicate the importance of the enterprise,
and to secure the countenance of Pedrarias for the further
prosecution of it. 1

Yet Pizarro could not make up his mind to present himself,
in the present state of the undertaking, before the governor.
He determined, therefore, to be set on shore with the principal
part of his company at Chicama, a place on the main-land, at
a short distance west of Panama. From this place, which he
reached without any further accident, he despatched the vessel,
and in it his treasurer, Nicholas de Ribera, with the gold he
had collected, and with instructions to lay before the governor
a full account of his discoveries, and the result of the
expedition.

While these events were passing, Pizarro’s associate, Almagro,
had been busily employed in fitting out another vessel for the
expedition at the port of Panama. It was not till long after
his friend’s departure that he was prepared to follow him.
With the assistance of Luque, he at length succeeded in
equipping a small caravel and embarking a body of between
sixty and seventy adventurers, mostly of the lowest order of the
colonists. He steered in the track of his comrade, with the
intention of overtaking him as soon as possible. By a signal
previously concerted of notching the trees, he was able to

1 Herrera, Hist. General, dec. iii. lib. viii. cap. xi. — Xerez, ubi supra.

138 Conquest of Peru

identify the spots visited by Pizarro, — Puerto de Pinas, Puerto
de la Hambre, Pueblo Quemada, — touching successively at
every point of the coast explored by his countrymen, though in
a much shorter time. At the last-mentioned place he was
received by the fierce natives with the same hostile demon¬
stration as Pizarro, though in the present encounter the Indians
did not venture beyond their defences. But the hot blood of
Almagro was so exasperated by this check, that he assaulted
the place and carried it sword in hand, setting fire to the out¬
works and dwellings, and driving the wretched inhabitants into
the forest.

His victory cost him dear. A wound from a javelin on the
head, caused an inflammation in one of his eyes, which after
great anguish, ended in the loss of it. Yet the intrepid
adventurer did not hesitate to pursue his voyage, and, after
touching at several places on the coast, some of which rewarded
him with a considerable booty in gold, he reached the mouth
of the Rio de San Juan , about the fourth degree of north
latitude. He was struck with the beauty of the stream, and
with the cultivation on its borders, which were sprinkled with
Indian cottages showing some skill in their construction, and
altogether intimating a higher civilisation than anything he had
yet seen.

Still his mind was filled with anxiety for the fate of Pizarro
and his followers. No trace of them had been found on the
coast for a long time, and it was evident they must have
foundered at sea, or made their way back to Panama. This
last he deemed most probable, as the vessel might have passed
him unnoticed under the cover of the night, or of the dense
fogs that sometimes hang over the coast.

Impressed with this belief, he felt no heart to continue his
voyage of discovery, for which, indeed, his single bark, with its
small complement of men, was altogether inadequate. He
proposed, therefore, to return without delay. On his way, he
touched at the Pearl Islands, and there learned the result of
his friend’s expedition, and the place of his present residence.
Directing his course, at once, to Chicama, the two cavaliers
soon had the satisfaction of embracing each other, and
recounting their several exploits and escapes. Almagro
returned even better freighted with gold than his confederate,
and at every step of his progress he had collected fresh con¬
firmation of the existence of some great and opulent empire in
the south. The confidence of the two friends was much
strengthened by their discoveries ; and they unhesitatingly

Discovery of Peru 139

pledged themselves to one another to die rather than abandon
the enterprise.1

The best means of obtaining the levies requisite for so
formidable an undertaking — more formidable, as it now
appeared to them, than before — were made the subject of long
and serious discussion. It was at length decided that Pizarro
should remain in his present quarters, inconvenient and even
unwholesome as they were rendered by the humidity of the
climate, and the pestilent swarms of insects that filled the
atmosphere. Almagro would pass over to Panama, lay the
case before the governor, and secure, if possible, his good-will
towards the prosecution of the enterprise. If no obstacle were
thrown in their way from this quarter, they might hope, with
the assistance of Luque, to raise the necessary supplies ; while
the results of the recent expedition were sufficiently encouraging
to draw adventurers to their standard in a community which
had a craving for excitement that gave even danger a charm,
and which held life cheap in comparison with gold.

CHAPTER III

THE FAMOUS CONTRACT - SECOND EXPEDITION - RUIZ EXPLORES

THE COAST - PIZARRO’S SUFFERINGS IN THE FOREST -

ARRIVAL OF NEW RECRUITS — FRESH DISCOVERIES AND
DISASTERS - PIZARRO ON THE ISLE OF GALLO

152(5— ^27

On his arrival at Panama, Almagro found that events had
taken a turn less favourable to his views than he had anticipated.
Pedrarias, the governor, was preparing to lead an expedition in
person against a rebellious officer in Nicaragua; and his
temper, naturally not the most amiable, was still further soured
by this defection of his lieutenant, and the necessity it imposed
on him of a long and perilous march. When, therefore,
Almagro appeared before him with the request that he might
be permitted to raise further levies to prosecute his enterprise,
the governor received him with obvious dissatisfaction, listened

1 Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. iii. p. 180. — Naharro,
Relacion Sumaria, MS. — Zarate, Conq. del Peru, loc. cit. — Balboa, Hist,
du Perou, chap. xv. — Relacion del Primer. Descub. MS. — Herrera, Hist.
General, dec. iii. lib. viii. cap. xiii.— Levinus Apollonius, fol. 12. — Gomara,
Hist, de las Ind., cap. cviii.

140 Conquest of Peru

coldly to the narrative of his losses, turned an incredulous ear
to his magnificent promises for the future, and bluntly
demanded an account of the lives which had been sacrificed
by Pizarro’s obstinacy, but which, had they been spared, might
have stood him in good stead in his present expedition to
Nicaragua. He positively declined to countenance the rash
schemes of the two adventurers any longer, and the conquest of
Peru would have been crushed in the bud, but for the efficient
interposition of the remaining associate, Fernando de Luque.

This sagacious ecclesiastic had received a very different
impression from Almagro’s narrative, from that which had been
made on the mind of the irritable governor. The actual results
of the enterprise in gold and silver, thus far indeed, had been
small, — forming a mortifying contrast to the magnitude of their
expectations. But, in another point of view, they were of the
last importance ; since the intelligence which the adventurers
had gamed in every successive stage of their progress confirmed,
in the strongest manner, the previous accounts, received from
Andagoya and others, of a rich Indian empire at the south,
which might repay the trouble of conquering it as well as
Mexico had repaid the enterprise of Cortes. Fully entering,
therefore, into the feelings of his military associates, he used all
his influence with the governor to incline him to a more
favourable view of Almagro’s petition ; and no one in the little
community of Panama exercised greater influence over the
councils of the executive than father Luque, for which he was
indebted no less to his discretion and acknowledged sagacity
than to his professional station.

But while Pedrarias, overcome by the arguments or
importunity of the churchman, yielded a reluctant assent to
the application, he took care to testify his displeasure with
Pizarro, on whom he particularly charged the loss of his
followers, by naming Almagro as his equal in command in
the proposed expedition. This mortification sunk deep into
Pizarro’s mind. He suspected his comrade, with what reason
does not appear, of soliciting this boon from the governor. A
temporary coldness arose between them, which subsided in
outward show, at least, on Pizarro’s reflecting that it was better
to have this authority conferred on a friend than on a stranger,
perhaps an enemy. But the seeds of permanent distrust were
left in his bosom, and lay waiting for the due season to ripen
into a fruitful harvest of discord.1

1 Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. iii. p. 180. — Montesinos,
Annales, MS., ano 1526. — Herrera, Hist. General, dec. iii. lib. viii. cap. xii.

Discovery of Peru 14 1

Pedrarius had been originally interested in the enterprise, at
least, so far as to stipulate for a share of the gains, though he
had not contributed, as it appears, a single ducat towards the
expenses. He was, at length, however, induced to relinquish
all right to a share of the contingent profits. But, in his manner
of doing so, he showed a mercenary spirit, better becoming a
petty trader than a high officer of the Crown. He stipulated that
the associates should secure to him the sum of one thousand pesos
de oro in requital of his goodwill, and they eagerly closed with
his proposal, rather than be encumbered with his pretensions.
For so paltry a consideration did he resign his portion of the
rich spoil of the Incas ! 1 But the governor was not gifted with
the eye of a prophet. His avarice was of that short-sighted kind
which defeats itself. He had sacrificed the chivalrous Balboa
just as that officer was opening to him the conquest of Peru,
and he would now have quenched the spirit of enterprise, that
was taking the same direction, in Pizarro and his associates.

Not long after this, in the following year, he was succeeded
in his government by Don Pedro de los Rios, a cavalier of
Cordova. It was the policy of the Castilian crown to allow no
one of its great colonial officers to occupy the same station so
long as to render himself formidable by his authority.2 It had,

1 Such is Oviedo’s account, who was present at the interview between the
governor and Almagro, when the terms of compensation were discussed.
The dialogue, which is amusing enough, and well told by the old Chronicler,
maybe found translated in Appendix , No. 5- Another version of the affair
is given in the Relacion , often by me, quoted of one of the Peruvian con¬
querors, in which Pedrarias is said to have gone out of the partnership
voluntarily, from his disgust at the unpromising state of affairs. ‘‘ Vueltos
con la dieha gente a Panama, destrozados y gastados que ya no tenian
haciendas para tornar con provisiones y gentes que todo lo habian gastado,
el dicho Pedrarias de Avila les dijo, que ye el no queria mas hacer com-
pania con ellos en los gastos de la armada, que si ellos querian volver a su
costa, que lo hiciesen ; y ansi como gente que habia perdido todo lo que
tenia y tanto habia trabajado, acordaron de tornar a proseguir sa jornada y
dar fin A las vidas y haciendas que les quedaba, 6 descubrir aquella tierra,
y ciertamente ellos tubieron grande constancia yanimo. ” — Relacion del
Primer. Descub., MS.

2 This policy is noticed by the sagacious Martyr. “ De mutandis namque
plerisque gubernatoribus, ne longa nimis imperii assuetudine insolescant,
cogitatur, qui prsecipue non fuerint provinciarum domitores, de hisce
ducibus namque alia ratio ponderatur.” (De Orbe Novo, [Parisiis, 1587,]
p. 498). One cannot but regret that the philosopher, who took so keen an
interest in the successive revelations of the different portions of the New
World, should have died before the empire of the Incas was disclosed to
Europeans. He lived to learn and to record the wonders of

“ Rich Mexico, the seat of Montezuma ;

Not Cuzco in Peru, the richer seat of Atabalipa.”

142 Conquest of Peru

moreover, many particular causes of disgust with Pedrarias.
The functionary they sent out to succeed him was fortified with
ample instructions for the good of the colony, and especially of
the natives, whose religious conversion was urged as a capital
object, and whose personal freedom was unequivocally asserted,
as loyal vassals of the Crown. It is but justice to the Spanish
government to admit that its provisions were generally guided
by a humane and considerate policy, which was as regularly
frustrated by the cupidity of the colonists, and the capricious
cruelty of the conqueror. The few remaining years of Pedrarias
were spent in petty squabbles, both of a personal and official
nature ; for he was still continued in office, though in one of
less consideration than that which he had hitherto filled. He
survived but a few years, leaving behind him a reputation not to
be envied, of one who united a pusillanimous spirit with uncon¬
trollable passions ; who displayed, notwithstanding, a certain
energy of character, or to speak more correctly, an impetuosity
of purpose, which might have led to good results had it taken
a right direction. Unfortunately his lack of discretion was such,
that the direction he took was rarely of service to his country
or to himself.

Having settled their difficulties with the governor, and
obtained his sanction to their enterprise, the confederates lost
no time in making the requisite preparation for it. Their first
step was to execute the memorable contract which served as
the basis of their future arrangements ; and, as Pizarro’s name
appears in this, it seems probable that that chief had crossed
over to Panama so soon as the favourable disposition of
Pedrarias had been secured.1 The instrument, after invoking
in the most solemn manner the names of the Holy Trinity and
our Lady the Blessed Virgin, sets forth, that whereas the parties
have full authority to discover and subdue the countries and
provinces lying south of the Gulf, belonging to the empire of
Peru, and as Fernando de Luque had advanced the funds for
the enterprise in bars of gold of the value of twenty thousand
pesos) they mutually bind themselves to divide equally among
them the whole of the conquered territory. This stipulation is
reiterated over and over again, particularly with reference to

1 In opposition to most authorities, — but not to the judicious Quintana, —

I have conformed to Montesinos, in placing the execution of the contract
at the commencement of the second, instead of the first, expedition. This
arrangement coincides with the date of the instrument itself, which, more¬
over, is reported in extenso by no ancient writer whom I have consulted
except Montesinos.

Discovery of Peru 143

Luque, who, it is declared, is to be entitled to one-third of all
lands, repartimientos , treasures of every kind, gold, silver, and
precious stones, — to one-third even of all vassals, rents, and
emoluments arising from such grants as may be conferred by
the Crown on either of his military associates, to be held
for his own use, or for that of his heirs, assigns, or legal
representative.

The two captains solemnly engage to devote themselves
exclusively to the present undertaking until it is accomplished ;
and, in case of failure in their part of the covenant, they pledge
themselves to reimburse Luque for his advances, for which all
the property they possess shall be held responsible, and this
declaration is to be a sufficient warrant for the execution of
judgment against them, in the same manner as if it had
proceeded from the decree of a court of justice.

The commanders, Pizarro and Almagro, made oath, in the
name of God and the Holy Evangelists, sacredly to keep this
covenant, swearing it on the missal, on which they traced with
their own hands the sacred emblem of the cross. To give still
greater efficacy to the compact, Father Luque administered the
sacrament to the parties, dividing the consecrated wafer into
three portions, of which each one of them partook ; while the
by-standers, says an historian, were affected to tears by this
spectacle of the solemn ceremonial with which these men
voluntarily devoted themselves to a sacrifice that seemed little
short of insanity.1

The instrument, which was dated March io, 1526, was sub¬
scribed by Luque, and attested by three respectable citizens of
Panama, one of whom signed on behalf of Pizarro, and the
other for Almagro ; since neither of these parties, according to
the avowal of the instrument, was able to subscribe his own
name.2

Such was the singular compact by which three obscure
individuals coolly carved out and partitioned among them¬
selves an empire, of whose extent, power, and resources,
of whose situation, of whose existence, even, they had no
sure or precise knowledge. The positive and unhesitating
manner in which they speak of the grandeur of this empire,
of its stores of wealth, so conformable to the event, but of

1 This singular instrument is given at length by Montesinos. (Annales
MS., afio 1526.) It may be found in the original in Appendix , No. 6.

2 For some investigation of the fact, which has been disputed by more
than one, of Pizarro’s ignorance of the art of writing, see Book IV. chap, v,
of this History.

144 Conquest of Peru

which they could have really known so little, forms a striking
contrast with the general scepticism and indifference manifested
by nearly every other person, high and low, in the community
of Panama.1

The religious tone of the instrument is not the least remark¬
able feature in it, especially when we contrast this with the re¬
lentless policy, pursued by the very men who were parties to it, in
their conquest of the country. “ In the name of the Prince of
Peace,” says the illustrious historian of America, “they ratified
a contract of which plunder and bloodshed were the objects.2
The reflection seems reasonable. Yet, in criticising what is
done, as well as what is written, we must take into account the
spirit of the times.3 The invocation of Heaven was natural,
where the object of the undertaking was, in part, a religious
one. Religion entered more or less into the theory, at least, of
the Spanish conquests in the New World. That motives of a
baser sort mingled largely with these higher ones, and in different
proportions according to the character of the individual, no one
will deny. And few are they that have proposed to themselves
a long career of action without the intermixture of some vulgar
personal motive, — fame, honours, or emolument. Yet that
religion furnishes a key to the American crusades, however
rudely they may have been conducted, is evident from the
history of their origin ; from the sanction openly given to them
by the Head of the Church ; from the throng of self-devoted
missionaries, who followed in the track of the Conquerors to
garner up the rich harvest of souls ; from the reiterated in¬
structions of the Crown, the great object of which was the
conversion of the natives ; from those superstitious acts of the
iron-hearted soldiery themselves, which, however they may be
set down to fanaticism, were clearly too much in earnest to
leave any ground for the charge of hypocrisy. It was indeed a
fiery cross that was borne over the devoted land, scathing and
consuming it in its terrible progress ; but it was still the Cross,

1 The epithet of loco or “madman ” was punningly bestowed on Father
Luque, for his spirited exertions in behalf of the enterprise ; Padre Luque.
o loco , says Oviedo of him, as if it were synonymous. — Historia de las Indias
Islas e Tierra Firme del Mar Oceano, MS., parte iii. lib. viii. cap. i.

2 Robertson, America, vol. iii. p. 5.

3 “A perfect judge will read each work of wit

With the same spirit that its author writ,”

says the great bard of Reason. A fair criticism will apply the same rule to
action as to writing, and, in the moral estimate of conduct, will take
largely into account the spirit of the age which prompted it.

Discovery of Peru 145

the sign of man’s salvation, the only sign by which generations
and generations yet unborn were to be rescued from eternal
perdition.

It is a remarkable fact, which has hitherto escaped the notice
of the historian, that Luque was not the real party to this
contract. He represented another, who placed in his hands
the funds required for the undertaking. This appears from an
instrument signed by Luque himself, and certified before the
same notary that prepared the original contract. The in¬
strument declares that the whole sum of twenty thousand pesos
advanced for the expedition was furnished by the Licentiate
Gasper de Espinosa, then at Panama ; that the vicar acted only
as his agent and by his authority ; and that, in consequence, the
said Espinosa and no other was entitled to a third of all the profits
and acquisitions resulting from the conquest of Peru. This in¬
strument, attested by three persons, one of them the same who
had witnessed the original contract, was dated on the 6th of
August, 1 53 1.1 The Licentiate Espinosa was a respectable func¬
tionary who had filled the office of principal alcalde in Darien,
and since taken a conspicuous part in the conquest and settle¬
ment of Tierra Firme. He enjoyed much consideration for his
personal character and station ; and it is remarkable that so
little should be known of the manner in which the covenant, so
solemnly made, was executed in reference to him. As in the
case of Columbus, it is probable that the unexpected magnitude
of the results was such as to prevent a faithful adherence to the
original stipulation ; and yet, from the same consideration, one
can hardly doubt that the twenty thousand pesos of the bold
speculator must have brought him a magnificent return. Nor
did the worthy vicar of Panama, as the history will show
hereafter, go without his reward.

Having completed these preliminary arrangements, the three
associates lost no time in making preparations for the voyage.
Two vessels were purchased, larger and every way better than
those employed on the former occasion. Stores were laid in, as
experience dictated, on a larger scale than before, and pro¬
clamation was made of “ an expedition to Peru.” But the call
was not readily answered by the sceptical citizens of Panama.

1 The instrument making this extraordinary disclosure is cited at length
in a manuscript entitled Noticia General del Peru, Tierra Firme y Chili, by
Francisco Lopez de Caravantes, a fiscal officer in these colonies. The MS.,
formerly preserved in the library of the great college of Cuenca at Salamanca,
is now to be found in her Majesty’s library at Madrid. The passage is
extracted by Quintana, Espanoles Celebres, tom. ii. Append. No. ii. nota.

146 Conquest of Peru

Of nearly two hundred men who had embarked on the former
cruise, not more than three-fourths now remained.1 This
dismal mortality, and the emaciated, poverty-stricken aspect of
the survivors, spoke more eloquently than the braggart pro¬
mises and magnificent prospects held out by the adventurers.
Still there were men in the community of such desperate cir¬
cumstances, that any change seemed like a chance of bettering
their condition. Most of the former company also, strange to
say, felt more pleased to follow up the adventure to the end
than to abandon it, as they saw the light of a better day
dawning upon them. From these sources the two captains
succeeded in mustering about one hundred and sixty men,
making altogether a very inadequate force for the conquest of
an empire. A few horses were also purchased, and a better
supply of ammunition and military stores than before, though
still on a very limited scale. Considering their funds, the only
way of accounting for this must be by the difficulty of obtain¬
ing supplies at Panama, which, recently founded, and on the
remote coast of the Pacific, could be approached only by
crossing the rugged barrier of mountains, which made the
transportation of bulky articles extremely difficult. Even such
scanty stock of materials as it possessed was probably laid under
heavy contribution, at the present juncture, by the governor’s
preparations for his own expedition to the north.

Thus indifferently provided, the two captains, each in his
own vessel, again took their departure from Panama under the
direction of Bartholomew Ruiz, a sagacious and resolute pilot,
well experienced in the navigation of the Southern Ocean. He
was a native of Moguer, in Andalusia, that little nursery of
nautical enterprise, which furnished so many seamen for the
first voyages of Columbus. Without touching at the intervening
points of the coast, which offered no attraction to the voyagers,
they stood farther out to sea, steering direct for the Rio de San
Juan, the utmost limit reached by Almagro. The season was
better selected than on the former occasion, and they were
borne along by favourable breezes to the place of their destin¬
ation, which they reached without accident in a few days.
Entering the mouth of the river, they saw the banks were lined
with Indian habitations ; and Pizarro, disembarking, at the head

1 “ Con ciento i diez hombres salio de Panama i fue donde estaba el Capitan
Pigarro con otros cinquenta de los primeros ciento i diez, que con el
salieron, i de los setenta, que el Capitan Almagro llevo, quando le fue a
buscar, que los ciento i treinta ia eran muertos. — Xerez, Conq. del Peru,
ap. Barcia, tom. iii. p. 1S0.

Discovery of Peru 147

of a party of soldiers, succeeded in surprising a small village
and carrying off a considerable booty of gold ornaments found
in the dwellings, together with a few of the natives.1

Flushed with their success, the two chiefs were confident that
the sight of the rich spoil so speedily obtained could not fail to
draw adventurers to their standard in Panama ; and, as they
felt more than ever the necessity of a stronger force to cope
with the thickening population of the country which they were
now to penetrate, it was decided that Almagro should return
with the treasure and beat up for reinforcements, while the
pilot Ruiz, in the other vessel, should reconnoitre the country
towards the south, and obtain such information as might
determine their future movements. Pizarro, with the rest of
the force, would remain in the neighbourhood of the river, as
he was assured by the Indian prisoners, that not far in the
interior was an open reach of country, where he and his men
could find comfortable quarters. This arrangement was in-
; stantly put in execution. We will first accompany the intrepid
pilot in his cruise towards the south.

Coasting along the great continent, with his canvas still
1 spread to favourable winds, the first place at which Ruiz cast
anchor was off the little island of Gallo, about two degrees
north. The inhabitants, who were not numerous, were pre¬
pared to give him a hostile reception, — for tidings of the
invaders had preceded them along the country, and even
reached this insulated spot. As the object of Ruiz was to
explore, not to conquer, he did not care to entangle himself in
hostilities with the natives ; so, changing his purpose of landing,
he weighed anchor, and ran down the coast as far as what is
now called the Bay of St. Matthew. The country, which, as
he advanced, continued to exhibit evidence of a better culture
as well as of a more dense population than the parts hitherto
seen, was crowded, along the shores, with spectators, who gave
no signs of fear or hostility. They stood gazing on the vessel
of the white men as it glided smoothly into the crystal waters
of the bay, fancying it, says an old writer, some mysterious
being descended from the skies.

Without staying long enough on this friendly coast to
undeceive the simple people, Ruiz, standing off shore, struck
out into the deep sea ; but he had not sailed far in that direc¬
tion, when he was surprised by the sight of a vessel, seeming

1 Xerez, Conq. del Pern, ap. Barcia, tom. iii. pp. 180, 1 8 1 . — Naharro,
i Relacion Sumaria, MS. — Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. i. cap. L — Herrera,
Hist. General, dec. iii. lib. viii. cap. xiii.

148 Conquest of Peru

in the distance like a caravel of considerable size, traversed by
a large sail that carried it sluggishly over the waters. The old
navigator was not a little perplexed by this phenomenon, as
he was confident no European bark could have been before
him in these latitudes, and no Indian nation, yet discovered,
not even the civilised Mexican, was acquainted with the use of
sails in navigation. As he drew near, he found it was a large
vessel, or rather raft, called balsa by the natives, consisting of
a number of huge timbers of a light, porous wood, tightly lashed
together, with a frail flooring of reeds raised on them by way of
deck. Two masts or sturdy poles, erected in the middle of the
vessel, sustained a large square-sail of cotton, while a rude kind
of rudder and a moveable keel, made of plank inserted between
the logs, enabled the mariner to give a direction to the floating
fabric, which held on its course without the aid of oar or
paddle.1 The simple architecture of this craft was sufficient
for the purposes of the natives, and indeed has continued to
answer them to the present day ; for the balsa, surmounted by
small thatched huts or cabins, still supplies the most com¬
modious means for the transportation of passengers and luggage
on the streams and along the shores of this part of the South
American continent.

On coming alongside, Ruiz found several Indians, both men
and women, on board, some with rich ornaments on their
persons, besides several articles wrought with considerable skill
in gold and silver, which they were carrying for the purposes of
traffic to the different places along the coast. But what most
attracted his attention was the woollen cloth of which some of
their dresses were made. It was of a fine texture, delicately
embroidered with figures of birds and flowers, and dyed in
brilliant colours. He also observed in the boat a pair of
balances made to weigh the precious metals.2 His astonish-

1 “ Traia sus manteles y antenas de muy fina madera y velas de algodon
del mismo talle de manera que los nuestros navios.” — Relacion de las
Primeros Descubrimientos de F. Pizarro y Diego de Almagro, sacada del
Codice, No. 120 de la Biblioteca Imperial de Vienna, MS.

2 In a short notice of this expedition, written apparently at the time of it,
or soon after, a minute specification is given of the several articles found in
the balsa ; among them are mentioned vases and mirrors of burnished silver,
and curious fabrics both cotton and woollen. “ Espejos guarnecidos de la
dicha plata, y tasas y otras vasijas para beber, trahian muchas mantas ne
lana y de algodon, y camisas y aljubas y alcaperes y alaremes, y otras muchas
ropas, todo lo mas de ello muy labrado de labores muy ricas de colores de
grana y carmisi y azul y amarillo, y de todas otras colores de diversas
maneras de labores y figuras de aves y animales, y Pescados, y arbolesas y
trahian unos pesos chiquitos de pesar oro como hechura de Romana, y

Discovery of Peru 149

ment at these proofs of ingenuity and civilisation, so much
higher than anything he had ever seen in the country, was
heightened by the intelligence which he collected from some
of these Indians. Two of them had come from Tumbez, a
Peruvian port, some degrees to the south ; and they gave him
to understand that in their neighbourhood the fields were
covered with large flocks of the animals from which the wool
was obtained, and that gold and silver were almost as common
as wood in the palaces of their monarch. The Spaniards
listened greedily to reports which harmonised so well with
their fond desires. Though half distrusting the exaggeration,
Ruiz resolved to detain some of the Indians, including the
natives of Tumbez, that they might repeat the wondrous tale
to his commander, and at the same time, by learning the Cas¬
tilian, might hereafter serve as interpreters with their country¬
men. The rest of the party he suffered to proceed without
further interruption on their voyage. Then holding on his
course, the prudent pilot, without touching at any other point
of the coast, advanced as far as the Punta de Pasado, about
half a degree south, having the glory of being the first European
who, sailing in this direction on the Pacific, had crossed the
equinoctial line. This was the limit of his discoveries ; on
: reaching which he tacked about, and standing away to the
north, succeeded, after an absence of several weeks, in regaining
the spot where he had left Piza^ro and his comrades.1

It was high time ; for the spirits of that little band had been
sorely tried by the perils they had encountered. On the
departure of his vessels, Pizarro marched into the interior, in
the hope of finding the pleasant champaign country which had
been promised him by the natives. But at every step the forest
seemed to grow denser and darker, and the trees towered to a
height such as he had never seen, even in these fruitful regions
where Nature works on so gigantic a scale.2 Hill continued to
rise above hill, as he advanced, rolling onward, as it were, by

otros muchas cosas.” — Relacion sacada de la Biblioteca Imperial de
Vienna, MS.

1 Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. iii. p. 181. — Relacion sacada
de la Biblioteca Imperial de Vienna, MS. — Herrera, Hist. General, dec.
iii. lib. viii. cap. xiii. One of the authorities speaks of his having been
sixty days on this cruise. I regret not to be able to give precise dates of the
events in these early expeditions. But chronology is a thing beneath the
notice of these ancient chroniclers, who seem to think that the date of
events, so fresh in their own memory, must be so in that of every one else.

2 “Todo era montafias, con arboles hasta el cielo 1 ” — Herrera, Hist.
General, ubi supra.

150 Conquest of Peru

successive waves to join that colossal barrier of the Andes,
whose frosty sides, far away above the clouds, spread out like
a curtain of burnished silver, that seemed to connect the
heavens with the earth.

On crossing these woody eminences, the forlorn adventurers
would plunge into ravines of frightful depth, where the exhal¬
ations of a humid soil steamed up amidst the incense of sweet-
scented flowers, which shone through the deep gloom in every
conceivable variety of colour. Birds, especially of the parrot
tribe, mocked this fantastic variety of nature with tints as
brilliant as those of the vegetable world. Monkeys chattered
in crowds above their heads, and made grimaces like the
fiendish spirits of these solitudes ; while hideous reptiles, en¬
gendered in the slimy depths of the pools, gathered round the
footsteps of the wanderers. Here was seen the gigantic boa,
coiling his unwieldly folds about the trees, so as hardly to be
distinguished from their trunks, till he was ready to dart upon
his prey; and alligators lay basking on the borders of the
streams, or, gliding under the waters, seized their incautious
victim before he was aware of their approach.1 Many of the
Spaniards perished miserably in this way, and others were way¬
laid by the natives, who kept a jealous eye on their movements,
and availed themselves of every opportunity to take them at
advantage. Fourteen of Pizarro’s men were cut off at once in
a canoe which had stranded on the bank of a stream.2

Famine came in addition to other troubles, and it was with
difficulty that they found the means of sustaining life on the
scanty fare of the forest — occasionally the potato, as it grew
without cultivation, or the wild cocoa-nut, or, on the shore, the
salt and bitter fruit of the mangrove ; though the shore was less
tolerable than the forest, from the swarms of mosquitos which
compelled the wretched adventurers to bury their bodies up to
their very faces in the sand. In this extremity of suffering, they
thought only of return ; and all schemes of avarice and ambition
— except with Pizarro and a few dauntless spirits — were
exchanged for the one craving desire to return to Panama.

It was at this crisis that the pilot Ruiz returned with the
report of his brilliant discoveries ; and, not long after, Almagro
sailed into port with his vessel laden with refreshments, and a
considerable reinforcement of volunteers. The voyage of that
commander had been prosperous. When he arrived at Panama,

1 Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. iii. lib. viii. cap. xiii.

2 Ibid., loc. cit. — Gomara, Hist, de las Ind., cap. cviii. — Naharro,
Relacion Sumaria, MS.

Discovery of Peru 151

he found the government in the hands of Don Pedro de los
Rios ; and he came to anchor in the harbour, unwilling to
trust himself on shore, till he had obtained from Father Luque
some account of the dispositions of the executive. These were
sufficiently favourable ; for the new governor had particular
instructions fully to carry out the arrangements made by his
predecessor with the associates. On learning Almagro’s arrival,
he came down to the port to welcome him, professing his
willingness to afford every facility for the execution of his
designs. Fortunately, just before this period, a small body of
military adventurers had come to Panama from the mother-
country, burning with desire to make their fortunes in the
New World. They caught much more eagerly than the old
and wary colonists at the golden bait held out to them ; and
with their addition, and that of a few supernumerary stragglers
who hung about the town, Almagro found himself at the head
of a reinforcement of at least eighty men, with which, having
laid in a fresh supply of stores, he again set sail for the Rio de
San Juan.

The arrival of the new recruits all eager to follow up the
expedition, the comfortable change in their circumstances
produced by an ample supply of refreshments, and the glowing
pictures of the wealth that awaited them in the south, all had
their effect on the dejected spirits of Pizarro’s followers. Their
late toils and privations were speedily forgotten, and, with the
buoyant and variable feelings incident to a freebooter’s life,
they now called as eagerly on their commander to go forward
in the voyage, as they had before called on him to abandon it.
Availing themselves of the renewed spirit of enterprise, the
captains embarked on board their vessels, and, under the
guidance of the veteran pilot, steered in the same track he had
lately pursued.

But the favourable season for the southern course, which in
these latitudes lasts but a few months in the year, had been
suffered to escape. The breezes blew steadily towards the
north, and a strong current, not far from shore, set in the same
direction. The winds frequently rose into tempests, and the
unfortunate voyagers were tossed about, for many days, in the
boiling surges, amidst the most awful storms of thunder and
lightning, until, at length, they found a secure haven in the
island of Gallo, already visited by Ruiz. As they were now too
strong in numbers to apprehend an assault, the crews landed,
and, experiencing no molestation from the natives, they con¬
tinued on the island for a fortnight, refitting their damaged

152 Conquest of Peru

vessels, and recruiting themselves after the fatigues of the
ocean. Then, resuming their voyage, the captains stood
towards the south until they reached the Bay of St. Matthew.
As they advanced along the coast, they were struck, as Ruiz
had been before, with the evidence of a higher civilisation
constantly exhibited in the general aspect of the country and
its inhabitants. The hand of cultivation was visible in every
quarter. The natural appearance of the coast, too, had some¬
thing in it more inviting ; for, instead of the eternal labyrinth
of mangrove trees, with their complicated roots gnarled into
formidable coils under the water, as if to waylay and entangle
the voyager, the low margin of the sea was covered with a
stately growth of ebony, and with a species of mahogany and
other hard woods that take the most brilliant and variegated
polish. The sandal-wood, and many balsamic trees of unknown
names, scattered their sweet odours far and wide, not in an
atmosphere tainted with vegetable corruption, but on the pure
breezes of the ocean, bearing health as well as fragrance on
their wings. Broad patches of cultivated land intervened,
disclosing hill-sides covered with the yellow maize and the
potato, or checkered, in the lower levels, with blooming
plantations of cacao.1

The villages became more numerous ; and, as the vessels
rode at anchor off the Port of Tacamez, the Spaniards saw
before them a town of two thousand houses or more, laid out
into streets, with a numerous population clustering around it in
the suburbs.2 The men and women displayed many ornaments
of gold and precious stones about their persons, which may
seem strange, considering that the Peruvian Incas claimed a
monopoly of jewels for themselves and the nobles on whom
they condescended to bestow them. But, although the
Spaniards had now reached the outer limits of the Peruvian
empire, it was not Peru, but Quito, and that portion of it but
recently brought under the sceptre of the Incas, where the
ancient usages of the people could hardly have been effaced
under the oppressive system of the American despots. The

1 Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. iii. p. 181. — Relacion sacada
de la Biblioteca Imperial de Vienna, MS. — Naharro, Relacion Sumaria, MS.
— Montesinos, Annales, MS., alio 1526 — Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. i.
cap. i. — Relacion del Primer. Descub., MS.

2 Pizarro’s secretary speaks of one of the towns as containing 3,000 houses,
“ En esta tierra havia muchos mantenimientos, i la gente tenia mui buena
orden de vivir, los pueblos con sus calles, i placas ; pueblo havia que tenia
mas de tres mil casas, i otros havia menores.” — Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia,
tom. iii. p. 1S1.

Discovery of Peru 153

adjacent country was, moreover, particularly rich in gold,
which, collected from the washings of the streams, still forms
one of the staple products of Barbacoas. Here, too, was the
fair River of Emeralds, so called from the quarries of the
beautiful gem on its borders, from which the Indian monarchs
enriched their treasury.1

The Spaniards gazed with delight on these undeniable
evidences of wealth, and saw in the careful cultivation of the
soil a comfortable assurance that they had at length reached
the land which had so long been seen in brilliant, though
distant perspective before them. But here again they were
doomed to be disappointed by the warlike spirit of the people,
who, conscious of their own strength, showed no disposition to
quail before the invaders. On the contrary, several of their
canoes shot out, loaded with warriors, who, displaying a gold
mask as their ensign, hovered round the vessels with looks of
defiance, and, when pursued, easily took shelter under the lee
of the land.2

A more formidable body mustered along the shore, to the
number, according to the Spanish accounts, of at least ten
thousand warriors, eager, apparently, to come to close action
with the invaders. Nor could Pizarro, who had landed with a
party of his men in the hope of a conference with the natives,
wholly prevent hostilities ; and it might have gone hard with
the Spaniards, hotly pressed by their resolute enemy so superior
in numbers, but for a ludicrous accident reported by the his¬
torians as happening to one of the cavaliers. This was a fall
from his horse, which so astonished the barbarians, who were
not prepared for this division of what seemed one and the
same being into two, that, filled with consternation, they fell

1 Stevenson, who visited this part of the coast early in the present century,
is profuse in his description of its mineral and vegetable treasures. The
emerald mine in the neighbourhood of Las Esmeraldas, once so famous,
is now placed under the ban of a superstition, more befitting the times of
the Incas. “ I never visited it,” says the traveller, “owing to the super¬
stitious dread of the natives, who assured me that it was enchanted, and
guarded by an enormous dragon, which poured forth thunder and lightning
on those who dared to ascend the river.” — Residence in South America,
vol. ii. p. 406.

2 “ Salieron & los dichos navios quatorce canoas grandes con muchos
Indios dos armados de oro y plafa, y trahian en la una canoa 6 en estandarte
y encima de el un bolto de un mucho desio de oro, y dieron una suelta a
los navios por avisarlos en manera que no los pudiese enojar, y asi dieron
vuelta acia a su pueblo, y los navios no los pudieron tomar porque se
metieron en los baxos junto a la tierra.” — Relacion sacada de la Bibhoteca
Imperial de Vienna, MS.

G 3oi

154 Conquest of Peru

back, and left a way open for the Christians to regain their
vessels.1

A council of war was now called. It was evident that the
forces of the Spaniards were unequal to a contest with so
numerous and well-appointed a body of natives ; and even if
they should prevail here, they could have no hope of stemming
the torrent which must arise against them in their progress—
for the country was becoming more and more thickly settled,
and towns and hamlets started into view at every new headland
which they doubled. It was better, in the opinion of some, —
the faint-hearted, — to abandon the enterprise at once, as beyond
their strength. But Almagro took a different view of the affair.
“To go home,” he said, “with nothing done, would be ruin,
as well as disgrace. There was scarcely one but had left
creditors at Panama, who looked for payment to the fruits of
this expedition. To go home now would be to deliver them¬
selves at once into their hands. It would be to go to prison.
Better to roam a freeman, though in the wilderness, than to lie
bound with fetters in the dungeons of Panama.2 The only
course for them,” he concluded, “ was the one lately pursued.
Pizarro might find some more commodious place where he
could remain with part of the force, while he himself went
back for recruits to Panama. The story they had now to tell
of the riches of the land, as they had seen them with their own
eyes, would put their expedition in a very different light, and
could not fail to draw to their banner as many volunteers as
they needed.”

But this recommendation, however judicious, was not alto¬
gether to the taste of the latter commander, who did not relish
the part, which constantly fell to him, of remaining behind in
the swamps and forests of this wild country. “ It is all very
well,” he said to Almagro, “for you, who pass your time
pleasantly enough careering to and fro in your vessel, or snugly

1 “ Al tiempo del romper los unos con los otros, uno de aquellos de
caballo cayo del caballo abaio : y como los Indios vieron dividirse aquel
animal en dos partes, teniendo por cierto que todo era una cosa fue tanto el
miedo que tubieron que volvieron las espaldas dando voces a los suyos
diciendo, que se habia hecho dos haciendo admiracion dello : lo cual no
fue sin misterio ; porque a no acaecer esto se presume, que mataran todos
los Cristianos.” (Relacion del Primer. Descub., MS.) This way of
accounting for the panic of the barbarians is certainly quite as credible as
the explanation, under similar circumstances, afforded by the apparition of
the militant apostle St. James, so often noticed by the historians of these
wars.

2 “No era bien bolver pobres, a pedir limosna, i morir en las carceles,
los que ienian deudas.”- -Herrera, Hist. General, dec. iii. lib. x. cap. ii.

Discovery of Peru 155

sheltered in a land of plenty at Panama ; but it is quite another
matter for those who stay behind to droop and die of hunger in
the wilderness.” 1 To this Almagro retorted with some heat,
professing his own willingness to take charge of the brave men
who would remain with him, if Pizarro declined it. The con¬
troversy assuming a more angry and menacing tone, from words
they would have soon come to blows, as both, laying their hands
on their swords, were preparing to rush on each other, when
the treasurer, Ribera, aided by the pilot Ruiz, succeeded in
pacifying them. It required but little effort on the part of
these cooler counsellors to convince the cavaliers of the folly
of a conduct which must at once terminate the expedition in a
manner little creditable to its projectors. A reconciliation con¬
sequently took place, sufficent, at least in outward show, to
allow the two commanders to act together in concert. Alma-
gro’s plan was then adopted ; and it only remained to find out
the most secure and convenient spot for Pizarro’s quarters.

Several days were passed in touching at different parts of the
coast, as they retraced their course ; but everywhere the natives
appeared to have caught the alarm, and assumed a menacing,
and from their numbers, a formidable aspect. The more
northerly region, with its unwholesome fens and forests, where
nature wages a war even more relentless than man, was not to
be thought of. In this perplexity, they decided on the little
island of Gallo, as being, on the whole, from its distance from
the shore, and from the scantiness of its population, the most
eligible spot for them in their forlorn and destitute condition.2

1 “Como iba, i venia en los navios, adonde no le faltaba vitualla, no
padecia la miseria de la hambre, i otras angustias que tenian, i ponian i.
todos en eslrema congoja.” (Herrera, Hist. General, dec. iii. lib. x. cap.
ii. ) The cavaliers of Cortes and Pizarro, however doughty their achieve¬
ments, certainly fell short of those knights-errant, commemorated by
Hudibras, who,

“ As some think,

Of old did neither eat nor drink ;

Because, when thorough deserts vast
And regions desolate they past.

Unless they grazed, there’s not one word
Of their provision on record ;

Which made some confidently write,

They had no stomachs but to fight.”

2 Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Con., MS. — Relacion sacada de la Biblioteca
Imperial de Vienna, MS. — Naharro, Relacion Samaria, MS. — Zarate,
Conq. del Peru, lib. i. cap. i. — Herrera, Hist. General, dec. iii. lib. x. cap.
ii. It was singularly unfortunate, that Pizarro, instead of striking farther
south, should have so long dung to the northern shores of the Continent.
Dampier notices them as afflicted with incessant rain ; while the inhospitable

156 Conquest of Peru

But no sooner was the resolution of the two captains made
known, than a feeling of discontent broke forth among their
followers, especially those who were to remain with Pizarro on
the island. “ What ! ” they exclaimed, “ were they to be
dragged to that obscure spot to die by hunger ? The whole
expedition had been a cheat and a failure from beginning to
end. The golden countries, so much vaunted, had seemed to
fly before them as they advanced ; and the little gold they had
been fortunate enough to glean had all been sent back to
Panama to entice other fools to follow their example. What
had they got in return for all their sufferings. The only
treasures they could boast were their bows and arrows, and
they were now to be left to die on this dreary island, without so
much as a rood of consecrated ground to lay their bones in ! ,;1

In this exasperated state of feeling, several of the soldiers
wrote back to their friends, informing them of their deplorable
condition, and complaining of the cold-blooded manner in which
they were to be sacrificed to the obstinate cupidity of their
leaders. But the latter were wary enough to anticipate this
movement, and Almagro defeated it by seizing all the letters in
the vessels, and thus cutting off at once the means of communi¬
cation with their friends at home. Yet this act of unscrupulous
violence, like most other similar acts, fell short of its purpose ;
for a soldier named Sarabia had the ingenuity to evade it by
introducing a letter into a ball of cotton, which was to be taken
to Panama as a specimen of the products of the country, and
presented to the governor’s lady.2

The letter, which was signed by several of the disaffected
soldiery besides the writer, painted in gloomy colours the
miseries of their condition, accused the two commanders of
being the authors of this, and called on the authorities of
Panama to interfere by sending a vessel to take them from the
desolate spot, while some of them might still be found surviving
the horrors of their confinement. The epistle concluded with
a stanza, in which the two leaders were stigmatised as partners
in a slaughter-house ; one being employed to drive in the cattle

forests and the particularly ferocious character of the natives continued to
make these regions but little known down to this time. See his Voyages
and Adventures, (London, 1776,) vol. i. chap. xiv.

1 “ Miserablemente morir adonde aun no havia lugar sagrado, para
sepultura de sus cuerpos.” — Herrera, Hist. General, dec. iii. lib. x. cap. iii.

2 “ Metieron en un ovillo de algodon una carta firmada de muchos en
que sumariamente daban cuenta de las hambres, muertes y desnudez que
padecian, y que era cosa de risa todo, pues la riquezas se habian convertido
en flechas, y no havia otra cosa.” — Montesinos, Annales, MS., ano 1527.

Discovery of Peru 157

for the other to butcher. The verses, which had a currency in
their day among the colonists to which they were certainly not
entitled by their poetical merits, may be thus rendered into
corresponding doggerel : —

“ Look out, Senor Governor,

For the drover while he’s near ;

Since he goes home to get the sheep
For the butcher, who stays here.” 1

CHAPTER IV

INDIGNATION OF THE GOVERNOR — STERN RESOLUTION OF

PIZARRO — PROSECUTION OF THE VOYAGE - BRILLIANT ASPECT

OF TUMBEZ — DISCOVERIES ALONG THE COAST - RETURN TO

PANAMA — PIZARRO EMBARKS FOR SPAIN

i527 — I528

Not long after Almagro’s departure, Pizarro sent off the
remaining vessel, under the pretext of its being put in repair
at Panama. It probably relieved him of a part of his followers,
whose mutinous spirit made them an obstacle rather than a
help in his forlorn condition, and with whom he was the more
willing to part from the difficulty of finding subsistence on the
barren spot which he now occupied.

Great was the dismay occasioned by the return of Almagro
and his followers in the little community of Panama ; for the
letter, surreptitiously conveyed in the ball of cotton, fell into
the hands for which it was intended, and the contents soon
got abroad with the usual quantity of exaggeration. The
haggard and dejected mien of the adventurers, of itself, told a
tale sufficiently disheartening, and it was soon generally
believed that the few ill-fated survivors of the expedition were
detained against their will by Pizarro, to end their days with
their disappointed leader on his desolate island.

1 Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. iii. p. 1 8 1 . — Naharro, Relacion
Sumaria, MS. — Balboa, Hist, du Perou, chap. xv. — “ A1 fin de la peticion
que hacian en la carta al governador puso Juan de Sarabia, natural de
Trujillo, esta cuarteta : —

Pues Senor Gobernador,

Mirelo bien por entero
que alia va el recogedor,
y aca queda el carnicero.*’

Montesinos, Annales, MS., ano 1 527*

158 Conquest of Peru

Pedro de los Rios, the governor, was so much incensed at
the result of the expedition, and the waste of life it had
occasioned to the colony, that he turned a deaf ear to all the
applications of Luque and Almagro for further countenance in
the affair : he derided their sanguine anticipations of the
future, and finally resolved to send an officer to the isle of
Gallo, with orders to bring back every Spaniard whom he
should find still living in that dreary abode. Two vessels
were immediately dispatched for the purpose, and placed
under charge of a cavalier named Tafur, a native of Cordova.

Meanwhile Pizarro and his followers were experiencing all
the miseries which might have been expected from the
character of the barren spot on which they were imprisoned.
They were, indeed, relieved from all apprehensions of the
natives, since these had quitted the island on its occupation by
the white men ; but they had to endure the pains of hunger
even in a greater degree than they had formerly experienced in
the wild woods of the neighbouring continent. Their principal
food was crabs and such shell-fish as they could scantily pick
up along the shores. Incessant storms of thunder and
lightning, for it was the rainy season, swept over the devoted
island, and drenched them with a perpetual flood. Thus,
half-naked, and pining with famine, there were few in that
little company who did not feel the spirit of enterprise quenched
within them, or who looked for any happier termination of
their difficulties than that afforded by a return to Panama.
The appearance of Tafur, therefore, with his two vessels, well
stored with provisions, was greeted with all the rapture that
the crew of a sinking wreck might feel on the arrival of some
unexpected succour ; and the only thought, after satisfying the
immediate cravings of hunger, was to embark and leave the
detested isle for ever.

But by the same vessel letters came to Pizarro from his two
confederates, Luque and Almagro, beseeching him not to
despair in his present extremity, but to hold fast to his
original purpose. To return under the present circumstances
would be to seal the fate of the expedition ; and they solemnly
engaged, if he would remain firm at his post, to furnish him in
a short time with the necessary means for going forward.1

A ray of hope was enough for the courageous spirit of
Pizarro. It does not appear that he himself had entertained,

1 Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. iii. p. 182. — Zarate, Conq.
del Peru, lib. i. cap. ii. — Montesinos, Annales, MS., ano 1527. — Herrera,
Hist. General, dec. iii. lib. x. cap. iii — Naharro, Relacion Sumaria, MS.

Discovery of Peru 159

at any time, thoughts of returning. If he had, these words of
encouragement entirely banished them from his bosom, and
he prepared to stand the fortune of the cast on which he had
so desperately ventured. He knew, however, that solicitations
or remonstrances would avail little with the companions of his
enterprise ; and he probably did not care to win over the more
timid spirits who, by perpetually looking back, would only be
a clog on his future movements. He announced his own
purpose, however, in a laconic but decided manner, character¬
istic of a man more accustomed to act than to talk, and well
calculated to make an impression on his rough followers.

Drawing his sword, he traced a line with it on the sand from
east to west. Then turning towards the south, “Friends and
comrades ! ” he said, “ on that side are toil, hunger, nakedness,
the drenching storm, desertion, and death ; on this side, ease
and pleasure. There lies Peru with its riches ; here, Panama
and its poverty. Choose, each man, what best becomes a
brave Castilian. For my part, I go to the south.” So saying,
he stepped across the line.1 He was followed by the brave
pilot Ruiz ; next by Pedro de Candia, a ca.valier, born, as
his name imports, in one of the isles of Greece. Eleven
others successively crossed the line, thus intimating their
willingness to abide the fortunes of their leader, for good or
for evil.2 Fame, to quote the enthusiastic language of an ancient
chronicler, has commemorated the names of this little band,
“ who thus, in the face of difficulties unexampled in history,
with death rather than riches for their reward, preferred it all
to abandoning their honour, and stood firm by their leader as
an example of loyalty to future ages.” 3

1 “ Obedeciola Pizarro y antes que se egecutase saco un Punal, y con
notable animo hizo con la punta una raya de Oriente a Poniente ; y
senalando al medio dia, que era la parte de su noticia, y derrotero dijo :
Camaradas y amigos, esta parte es la de la muerte, de los trabajos, de las
hambres, de la desnudez, de los aguaceros, y desamparos ; la otra la del
gusto : Por aqui se ba a Panama a ser pobres, por alia al Peru a ser ricos.
Escoja el que fuere buen Castellano lo que mas bien le estubiere. Diciendo
esto paso la raya : siguieron le Barthome Ruis natural de Moguer, Pedro de
Candi Griego, natural de Candia.”— Montesinos, Annales, MS., ano 1527.

2 The names of these thirteen faithful companions are preserved in the
convention made with the Crown two years later, where they are suitably
commemorated for their loyalty. Their names should not be omitted in a
history of the Conquest of Peru. They were “ Bartolome Ruiz, Cristoval
de Peralta, Pedro de Candia, Domingo de Soria Luce, Nicolas de Ribera,
Francisco de Cuellar, Alonso de Molina, Pedro Alcon, Garcia de Jerez,
Anton de Carrion, Alonso Briceno, Martin de Paz, Juan de la Torre,”

s “ Estos fueron los trece de la fama. Estros los que cercados de los

i6o Conquest of Peru

But the act excited no such admiration in the mind of Tafur,
who looked on it as one of gross disobedience to the commands
of the governor, and as little better than madness, involving
the certain destruction of the parties engaged in it. He refused
to give any sanction to it himself by leaving one of his vessels
with the adventurers to prosecute their voyage, and it was with
great difficulty that he could be persuaded even to allow them
a part of the stores which he had brought for their support.
This had no influence on their determination, and the little
party, bidding adieu to their returning comrades, remained
unshaken in their purpose of abiding the fortunes of their
commander.1

There is something striking to the imagination in the spectacle
of these few brave spirits, thus consecrating themselves to a
daring enterprise which seemed as far above their strength as
any recorded in the fabulous annals of knight-errantry. A
handful of men, without food, without clothing, almost without
arms, without knowledge of the land to which they were bound,
without vessel to transport them, were here left on a lonely
rock in the ocean with the avowed purpose of carrying on a
crusade against a powerful empire, staking their lives on its
success. What is there in the legends of chivalry that surpasses
it ? This was the crisis of Pizarro’s fate. There are moments
in the lives of men, which, as they are seized or neglected,
decide their future destiny.2 Had Pizarro faltered from his
strong purpose and yielded to the occasion now so temptingly

mayores trabajos que pudo el Mundo ofrecer a hombres, y los que estando
mas para esperar la muerte que las riquezas que se les prometian, todo Io
pospusieron a la honra, y siguieron a su capitan y caudillo para egempio de
lealtad en io future.” — Montesinos, Annales, MS., ano 1527.

1 Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. i. cap. ii. — Montesinos, Annales, MS., ano
1527. — Naharro, Relacion Sumaria, MS. — Herrera, Hist. General, dec. iii.
lib. x. cap. iii.

2 This common sentiment is expressed with uncommon beauty by the
fanciful Eoiardo where he represents Rinaldo as catching Fortune under the
guise of the fickle fairy Morgana, by the forelock. The Italian reader may
not be displeased to refresh his memory with it : —

“ Chi circa in questo mondo aver tesoro,

O diletto, e piacere, honore, e stato,

Ponga la mano a questa chioma a'oro,

Ch’ io porto in fronte, e lo faro beato ;

Ma quando ha in destro si fatto lavoro,

Non prenda indugio, che ’1 tempo passato
Perdu to e tutto, e non ritorna mai,

Ld io mi volto, e lui lascio con guai.”

Orlando, Inr.amorato, lib. ii. canto viii.

Discovery of Peru 1 6 1

presented for extricating himself and his broken band from
rheir desperate position, his name would have been buried with
his fortunes, and the conquest of Peru would have been left for
other and more successful adventurers. But his constancy was
equal to the occasion, and his conduct here proved him com¬
petent to the perilous post he had assumed, and inspired others
with a confidence in him which was the best assurance of success.

In the vessel that bore back Tafur and those who seceded
from the expedition, the pilot Ruiz was also permitted to return,
in order to co-operate with Luque and Almagro in their
application for further succour.

Not long after the departure of the ships, it was decided by
Pizarro to abandon his present quarters, which had little to
recommend them, and which, he reflected, might now be ex¬
posed to annoyance from the original inhabitants, should they
take courage and return, on learning the diminished number
of the white men. The Spaniards, therefore, by his orders,
constructed a rude boat or raft, on which they succeeded in
transporting themselves to the little island of Gorgona, twenty-
five leagues to the north of their present residence. It lay
about five leagues from the continent, and was uninhabited.
It had some advantages over the isle of Gallo ; for it stood
higher above the sea, and was partially covered with wood,
which afforded shelter to a species of pheasant, and the hare or
rabbit of the country, so that the Spaniards with their cross¬
bows were enabled to procure a tolerable supply of game. Cool
streams that issued from the living rock furnished abundance
of water, though the drenching rains that fell without intermis¬
sion, left them in no danger of perishing by thirst. From this
annoyance they found some protection in the rude huts which
they constructed ; though here, as in their former residence,
they suffered from the no less intolerable annoyance of
venomous insects, which multiplied and swarmed in the
exhalations of the rank and stimulated soil. In this dreary
abode Pizarro omitted no means by which to sustain the
drooping spirits of his men. Morning prayers were duly said,
and the evening hymn to the Virgin was regularly chanted ; the
festivals of the Church were carefully commemorated, and
every means taken by their commander to give a kind of
religious character to his enterprise, and to inspire his rough
followers with a confidence in the protection of Heaven that
might support them in their perilous circumstances.1

1 Cada Manana daban gracias a Dios : a las tardes decian la Salve, i
*G 301

1 62 Conquest of Peru

In these uncomfortable quarters their chief employment was
to keep watch on the melancholy ocean, that they might hail
the first signal of the anticipated succour. But many a tedious
month passed away, and no sign of it appeared. All around
was the same wide waste of waters except to the eastward,
where the frozen crest of the Andes, touched with the ardent
sun of the equator, glowed like a ridge of fire along the whole
extent of the great continent. Every speck in the distant
horizon was carefully noticed, and the drifting timber or masses
of sea- weed heaving to and fro on the bosom of the waters,
was converted by their imaginations into the promised vessel ;
till, sinking under successive disappointments, hope gradually
gave way to doubt, and doubt settled into despair.1

Meanwhile the vessel of Tafur had reached the port of
Panama. The tidings which she brought of the indexible
obstinacy of Pizarro and his followers filled the governor with
indignation. He could look on it in no other light than as an
act of suicide, and steadily refused to send further assistance to
men who were obstinately bent on their own destruction. Yet
Luque and Almagro were true to their engagements. They
represented to the governor, that if the conduct of their
comrade was rash, it was at least in the service of the Crown,
and in prosecuting the great work of discovery. Rios had been
instructed, on his taking the government, to aid Pizarro in the
enterprise ; and to desert him now would be to throw away the
remaining chance of success, and to incur the responsibility of
his death and that of the brave men who adhered to him.
These remonstrances at length so far operated on the mind of
that functionary, that he reluctantly consented that a vessel
should be sent to the island of Gorgona, but with no more
hands than were necessary to work her, and with positive
instructions to Pizarro to return in six months and report him¬
self at Panama, whatever might be the future results of his
expedition.

Having thus secured the sanction of the executive, the two
associates lost no time in fitting out a small vessel with stores
and a supply of arms and ammunition, and dispatched it to
the island. The unfortunate tenants of this little wilderness,

otras Oraciones, por las Horas : sabian las Fiestas, i tenian cuenta con
los Viernes, i Domingos.” — Herrera, Hist. General, dec. iii. lib. x.
cap. iii.

1 ‘ c A1 cabo de muchos Dias aguardano, estaban tan r.ngustiados, que los
salages, que se hacian bien dentro de la Mar, les parecid, que era el Navio.”
— Herrera, Hist. General, dec. iii. lib. x. cap. iv.

Discovery of Peru 163

who had now occupied it for seven months,1 hardly dared to
trust their senses when they descried the white sails of the
friendly bark coming over the waters. And although, when
the vessel anchored off the shore, Pizarro was disappointed to
find that it brought no additional recruits for the enterprise,
yet he greeted it with joy, as affording the means of solving the
great problem of the existence of the rich southern empire, and
of thus opening the way for its future conquest. Two of his
men were so ill, that it was determined to leave them in the
care of some of the friendly Indians who had continued with
him through the whole of his sojourn, and to call for them on
his return. Taking with him the rest of his hardy followers
and the natives of Tumbez, he embarked, and speedily weighing
anchor, bade adieu to the “ Hell,’; as it was called by the
Spaniards, which had been the scene of so much suffering and
such undaunted resolution.2

Every heart was now elated with hope as they found them¬
selves once more on the waters, under the guidance of the
good pilot Ruiz, who, obeying the directions of the Indians,
proposed to steer for the land of Tumbez, which would bring
them at once into the golden empire of the Incas, — the El
Dorado, of which they had been so long in pursuit. Passing
by the dreary isle of Gallo, which they had such good cause to
remember, they stood farther out to sea until they made Point
Tacumez, near which they had landed on their previous voyage.
They did not touch at any part of the coast, but steadily held
on their way, though considerably impeded by the currents as
well as by the wind, which blew with little variation from the
south. Fortunately the wind was light, and as the weather was
favourable, their voyage, though slow, was not uncomfortable.
In a few days they came in sight of Point Pasado, the limit of
the pilot’s former navigation ; and, crossing the line, the little
bark entered upon those unknown seas which had never been
ploughed by European keel before. The coast they observed
gradually declined from its former bold and rugged character,
gently sloping towards the shore and spreading out into sandy
plains, relieved here and there by patches of uncommon richness
and beauty ; while the white cottages of the natives, glistening

1 “ Estubieron, con estos trabajos con igualdad de animosiete meses.” —
Montesinos, Annales, MS., ano 1527.

2 Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom iii. p. 182. — Montesinos,
Annales, MS., ano 1527. — Naharro, Relacion Sumaria, MS. — Herrera,
Hist. General, dec. iii. lib. x. cap. iv. — Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq.,
MS.

164 Conquest of Peru

along the margin of the sea, and the smoke that rose among
the distant hills, intimated the increasing population of the
country.

At length, after the lapse of twenty days from their departure
from the island, the adventurous vessel rounded the point of
St. Helena, and glided smoothly into the waters of the beautiful
gulf of Guayaquil. The country was here studded along the
shore with towns and villages, though the mighty chain of
Cordilleras sweeping up abruptly from the coast, left but a
narrow strip of emerald verdure, through which numerous
rivulets spreading fertility around them, wound their way into
the sea.

The voyagers were now abreast of some of the most
stupendous heights of this magnificent range ; Chimborazo,
with its broad round summit, towering like the dome of the
Andes, and Cotopaxi, with its dazzling cone of silvery white,
that knows no change except from the action of its own
volcanic fires ; for this mountain is the most terrible of the
American volcanoes, and was in formidable activity at no great
distance from the period of our narrative. Well pleased with
the signs of civilisation that opened on them at every league of
their progress, the Spaniards at length came to anchor off the
island of Santa Clara, lying at the entrance of the Bay of
Tumbez.1

The place was uninhabited, but was recognised by the Indians
on board as occasionally resorted to by the warlike people of
the neighbouring isle of Puna, for purposes of sacrifice and
worship. The Spaniards found on the spot a few bits of gold
rudely wrought into various shapes, and probably designed as
offerings to the Indian deity. Their hearts were cheered, as
the natives assured them they would see abundance of the same
precious metal in their own city of Tumbez.

The following morning they stood across the bay for this
place. As they drew near, they beheld a town of considerable
size, with many of the buildings apparently of stone and plaster,
situated in the bosom of a fruitful meadow, which seemed to
have been redeemed from the sterility of the surrounding country
by careful and minute irrigation. When at some distance from

1 According to Garcilasso, two years elapsed between the departure from
Gorgona and the arrival at Tumbez. (Com. Real., parte ii. lib. i. cap. xi. )
Such gross defiance of chronology is rather uncommon even in the narratives
of these transactions, where it is as difficult to fix a precise date, amidst the
silence, rather than the contradictions, of contemporary statements, as if the
events had happened before the deluge.

Discovery of Peru 165

•:

shore, Pizarro saw standing towards him several large balsas,
which were found to be filled with warriors going on an expedi¬
tion against the island of Puna. Running alongside of the
Indian flotilla, he invited some of the chiefs to come on board of
his vessel. The Peruvians gazed with wonder on every object
which met their eyes, and especially on their own countrymen,
whom they had little expected to meet there. The latter
informed them in what manner they had fallen into the hands
of the strangers, whom they described as a wonderful race of
beings, that had come thither for no harm, but solely to be
made acquainted with the country and its inhabitants. This
account was confirmed by the Spanish commander, who
persuaded the Indians to return in their balsas and report
what they had learned to their townsmen, requesting them
at the same time to provide his vessel with refreshments, as it
was his desire to enter into a friendly intercourse with the
natives.

The people of Tumbez were gathered along the shore, and
were gazing with unutterable amazement on the floating castle,
which, now having dropped anchor, rode lazily at its moorings
in their bay. They eagerly listened to the accounts of their
countrymen, and instantly reported the affair to the curaca or
ruler of the district, who, conceiving that the strangers must be
beings of a superior order, prepared at once to comply with
their request. It was not long before several balsas were seen
steering for the vessel laden with bananas, plantains, yuca,
Indian corn, sweet potatoes, pine-apples, cocoa-nuts, and other
rich products of the bountiful vale of Tumbez. Game and
fish, also, were added, with a number of llamas, of which
Pizarro had seen the rude drawings belonging to Balboa, but
of which till now he had met with no living specimen. He
examined this curious animal, the Peruvian sheep — or, as the
Spaniards called it, the “little camel ” of the Indians — with
much interest, greatly admiring the mixture of wool and hair
which supplied the natives with the materials for their fabrics.

At that time there happened to be at Tumbez an Inca noble,
or orejon — for so, as I have already noticed, men of his rank
were called by the Spaniards, from the huge ornaments of gold
attached to their ears. He expressed great curiosity to see the
wonderful strangers, and had, accordingly, come out with the
balsas for the purpose. It was easy to perceive from the
superior quality of his dress, as well as from the deference paid
to him by the others, that he was a person of consideration, and
Pizarro received him with marked distinction. He showed him

1 66 Conquest of Peru

the different parts of the ship, explaining to him the uses of what¬
ever engaged his attention, and answering his numerous queries,
as well as he could, by means of the Indian interpreters. The
Peruvian chief was especially desirous of knowing whence and
why Pizarro and his followers had come to these shores. The
Spanish captain replied that he was the vassal of a great
prince, the greatest and most powerful in the world, and that he
had come to this country to assert his master’s lawful supremacy
over it. He had further come to rescue the inhabitants from
the darkness of unbelief in which they were now wandering.
They worshipped an evil spirit, who would sink their souls into
everlasting perdition ; and he would give them the knowledge
of the true and only God, Jesus Christ, since to believe on him
was eternal salvation.1

The Indian prince listened with deep attention and apparent
wonder ; but answered nothing. It may be, that neither he
nor his interpreters had any very distinct ideas of the doctrines
thus abruptly revealed to them. It may be, that he did not
believe there was any other potentate on earth greater than the
Inca ; none, at least, who had a better right to rule over his
dominions. And it is very possible he was not disposed to
admit that the great luminary whom he worshipped was inferior
to the God of the Spaniards. But whatever may have passed
in the untutored mind of the barbarian, he did not give vent to
it, but maintained a discreet silence, without any attempt to
controvert or to convince his Christian antagonist.

He remained on board the vessel till the hour of dinner, of
which he partook with the Spaniards, expressing his satisfaction
at the strange dishes, and especially pleased with the wine,
which he pronounced far superior to the fermented liquors of
his own country. On taking leave, he courteously pressed the
Spaniards to visit Tumbez, and Pizarro dismissed him with the
present, among other things, of an iron hatchet, which had
greatly excited his admiration ; for the use of iron, as we have
seen, was as little known to the Peruvians as to the Mexicans.

On the day following, the Spanish captain sent one of his own
men, named Alonso de Molina, on shore, accompanied by a
negro who had come in the vessel from Panama, together with
a present for the curaca of some swine and poultry, neither of

1 The text abridges somewhat the discourse of the military polemic ;
which is reported at length by Herrera, Hist. General, dec. iii. lib. x. cap.
iv. — See also Montesinos, Annales, MS., ano 1527 ; — Conq. i Pob. del
Piru, MS. ; — Naharro, Relacion Sumaria, MS. ; — Relacion del Primer.
Descub., MS.

Discovery of Peru 167

which were indigenous to the New World. Towards evening
his emissary returned with a fresh supply of fruit and
vegetables, that the friendly people sent to the vessel. Molina
had a wondrous tale to tell. On landing, he was surrounded
by the natives, who expressed the greatest astonishment at his
dress, his fair complexion and his long beard. The women,
especially, manifested great curiosity in respect to him, and
Molina seemed to be entirely won by their charms and
captivating manners. He probably intimated his satisfaction
by his demeanour, since they urged him to stay among them,
promising in that case to provide him with a beautiful wife.

Their surprise was equally great at the complexion of his
sable companion. They could not believe it was natural, and
tried to rub off the imaginary dye with their own hands. As
the African bore all this with characteristic good-humour,
displaying at the same time his rows of ivory teeth, they were
prodigiously delighted.1 The animals were no less above their
comprehension ; and, when the cock crew, the simple people
clapped their hands, and inquired what he was saying.2 Their
intellects were so bewildered by sights so novel, that they
seemed incapable of distinguishing between man and brute.

Molina was then escorted to the residence of the curaca,
whom he found living in much state, with porters stationed at
his doors, and with a quantity of gold and silver vessels, from
which he was served. He was then taken to different parts
of the Indian city, saw a fortress built of rough stone, and
though low, spreading over a large extent of ground.3 Near
this was a temple ; and the Spaniard’s description of its decora¬
tions, blazing with gold and silver, seemed so extravagant, that
Pizarro, distrusting his whole account, resolved to send a more
discreet and trustworthy emissary on the following day.4

The person selected was Pedro de Candia, the Greek
cavalier mentioned as one of the first who intimated his
intention to share the fortunes of his commander. He was
sent on shore, dressed in complete mail as became a good

1 “ No se cansaban de mirarle, hacianle labar, para v6r si se le quitaba la
Tinta negra, i el lo hacia de buena gana, riendose, i mostrando sus Dientes
blancos.”— Herrera, Hist. General, dec. iii. lib. x. cap. v.

2 Tbid. , ubi supra.

* “ Cerca del solia estar una fortaleza muy fuerte yde linda obra, hecha

por los Yngas reyes del Cuzco y senores de todo el Peru . Ya esta

el edificio desta fortaleza muy gastado y deshecho : mas no para que dexe
de dar muestra de lo mucho que fue.” — Cieza de Leon, Cronica, cap. iv.

4 Conq. i Fob. del Piru, MS.— Herrera, Hist. General, loc. cit. —
Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. i. cap. ii.

1 68 Conquest of Peru

knight, with his sword by his side, and his arquebuse on his
shoulder. The Indians were even more dazzled by his
appearance than by Molina’s, as the sun fell brightly on his
polished armour, and glanced from his military weapons.
They had heard much of the formidable arquebuse from their
townsmen who had come in the vessel, and they besought
Candia “to let it speak to them.” He accordingly set up a
wooden board as a target, and, taking deliberate aim, fired off
the musket. The flash of the powder and the startling report
of the piece as the board struck by the ball was shivered into
splinters, filled the natives with dismay. Some fell on the
ground, covering their faces with their hands, and others
approached the cavalier with feelings of awe, which were
gradually dispelled by the assurance they received from the
smiling expression of his countenance.1

They then showed him the same hospitable attention which
they had paid to Molina ; and his description of the marvels
of the place on his return fell nothing short of his predecessor’s.
The fortress, which was surrounded by a triple row of wall,
was strongly garrisoned. The temple he described as literally
tapestried with plates of gold and silver. Adjoining this struc¬
ture was a sort of convent appropriated to the Inca’s destined
brides, who manifested great curiosity to see him. Whether
this was gratified is not clear ; but Candia described the gardens
of the convent, which he entered, as glowing with imitations of
fruits and vegetables all in pure gold and silver ! 2 He had
seen a number of artisans at work, whose sole business seemed

1 It is moreover stated that the Indians, desirous to prove still further the
superhuman nature of the Spanish cavalier, let loose on him a tiger — a
jaguar probably — which was caged in the royal fortress. But Don Pedro
was a good Catholic, and he gently laid the cross which he wore round his
neck on the animal’s back, who, instantly forgetting his ferocious nature,
crouched at the cavalier’s feet, and began to play around him in innocent
gambols. The Indians, now more amazed than ever, nothing doubted of
the sanctity of their guest, and bore him in triumph on their shoulders
to the temple. — This credible anecdote is repeated, without the least
qualification or distrust, by several contemporary writers. (See Naharro,
Relacion Sumaria, MS. — Herrera, Hist. General, dec. iii. lib. x. cap. v. ;
— Cieza de Leon, Cronica, cap. liv. ; — Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte ii. lib.
i. cap. xii.) This last author may have had his version from Candia’s own
son, with whom he tells us he was brought up at school. It will no
doubt find as easy admission with those of the present day who conceive
that the age of miracles has not yet passed.

2 “ Que habia visto un jardin donde las yerbas eran de oro imitando en
un todo a las naturales, arboles con frutas de lo mismo, y otras rnuchas
cosas a este modo, con que aficiono grandemente a sus compaileros a esta
conquista.” — Montesinos, Annales, ano 1527.

Discovery of Peru 169

to be to furnish these gorgeous decorations for the religious
houses.

The reports of the cavalier may have been somewhat over-
coloured.1 It was natural that men coming from the dreary
wilderness in which they had been buried the last six months
should have been vividly impressed by the tokens of civilisa¬
tion which met them on the Peruvian coast. But Tumbez was
a favourite city of the Peruvian princes. It was the most im¬
portant place on the northern borders of the empire contiguous
to the recent acquisition of Quito. The great Tupac Yupanqui
had established a strong fortress there, and peopled it with a
colony of mitimaes . The temple, and the house occupied by
the Virgins of the Sun, had been erected by Huayna Capac,
and were liberally endowed by that Inca after the sumptuous
fashion of the religious establishments of Peru. The town
was well supplied with water by numerous aqueducts, and the
fruitful valley in which it was embosomed, and the ocean which
bathed its shores, supplied ample means of subsistence to a
considerable population. But the cupidity of the Spaniards
after the Conquest was not slow in despoiling the place of its
glories ; and the site of its proud towers and temples, in less
than half a century after that fatal period, was to be traced
only by the huge mass of ruins that encumbered the ground.2

The Spaniards were nearly mad with joy, says an old writer,
at receiving these brilliant tidings of the Peruvian city. All
their fond dreams were now to be realised, and they had at
length reached the realm which had so long flitted in visionary
splendour before them. Pizarro expressed his gratitude to
Heaven for having crowned his labours with so glorious a
result ; but he bitterly lamented the hard fate which, by de¬
priving him of his followers, denied him, at such a moment,

1 The worthy knight’s account does not seem to have found favour with
the old conqueror, so often cited in these pages, who says, that, when they
afterwards visited Tumbez, the Spaniards found Candia’s relation a lie from
beginning to end, except, indeed, in respect to the temple ; though the
veteran acknowledges that what was deficient in Tumbez was more than
made up by the magnificence of other places in the empire not then
visited. “ Lo cual fue mentira ; porque despues que todos los Espanoles
entramos en ella, se vio por vista de ojos haber mentido en todo, salvo en
lo del templo, que este era cosa de ver, aunque mucho mas de lo que aquel
encarecio, lo que faltd en esta ciudad, se hallo despues en otras que muchas
leguas mas adelante se descubrieron.” — Relacion del Primer. Descub., MS.

2 Cieza de Leon, who crossed this part of the country in 1548, mentions
the wanton manner in which the hand of the Conqueror had fallen on the
Indian edifices, which lay in ruin even at that early period. — Cronica, cap
Ixvii,

170 Conquest of Peru

the means of availing himself of his success. Yet he had no
cause for lamentation ; and the devout Catholic saw in this
very circumstance a providential interposition which prevented
the attempt at conquest, while such attempts would have been
premature. Peru was not yet torn asunder by the dissensions
of rival candidates for the throne ; and, united and strong
under the sceptre of a warlike monarch, she might well have
bid defiance to all the forces that Pizarro could muster. “ It
was manifestly the work of Heaven,” exclaims a devout son of
the Church, “that the natives of the country should have
received him in so kind and loving a spirit as best fitted to
facilitate the conquest ; for it was the Lord’s hand which led
him and his followers to this remote region for the extension
of the holy faith, and for the salvation of souls.” 1

Having now collected all the information essential to his
object, Pizarro, after taking leave of the natives of Tumbez,
and promising a speedy return, weighed anchor, and again
turned his prow towards the south. Still keeping as near as
possible to the coast, that no place of importance might escape
his observation, he passed Cape Blanco, and, after sailing
about a degree and a half, made the port of Payta. The in¬
habitants, who had notice of his approach, came out in their
balsas to get sight of the wonderful strangers, bringing with
them stores of fruits, fish, and vegetables, with the same
hospitable spirit shown by their countrymen at Tumbez.

After staying here a short time, and interchanging presents
of trifling value with the natives, Pizarro continued his cruise ;
and, sailing by the sandy plains of Sechura for an extent of
near a hundred miles, he doubled the Punta de Aguja, and
swept down the coast as it fell off towards the east, still carried
forward by light, and somewhat variable breezes. The weather
now became unfavourable, and the voyagers encountered a suc¬
cession of heavy gales, which drove them some distance out
to sea, and tossed them about for many days. But they did
not lose sight of the mighty ranges of the Andes, which as
they proceeded towards the south, were still seen, at nearly the
same distance from the shore, rolling onwards, peak after peak,
with their stupendous surges of ice, like some vast ocean, that
had been suddenly arrested and frozen up in the midst of its
wild and tumultuous career. With this landmark always in view,

1 “ I si le recibiesen con amor, hiciese su Mrd. lo que mas conveniente
le pareciese al efecto de su conquista : porque tenia entendido, que el
haverlos traido Dios era para que su santa fe se dilatase i aquellas almas se
salvasen.” — Naharro, Relacion Sumaria, MS.

Discovery of Peru 17 1

the navigator had little need of star or compass to guide his
bark on her course.

As soon as the tempest had subsided, Pizarro stood in again
for the continent, touching at the principal points as he coasted
along. Everywhere he was received with the same spirit of
generous hospitality ; the natives coming in their balsas to
welcome him, laden with their little cargoes of fruits and
vegetables, of all the luscious varieties that grow in the tierra
caliente. All were eager to have a glimpse of the strangers,
the “ Children of the Sun,” as the Spaniards began already
to be called, from their fair complexions, brilliant armour, and
the thunderbolts which they bore in their hands.1 The most
favourable reports, too, had preceded them, of the urbanity
and gentleness of their manners, thus unlocking the hearts
of the simple natives, and disposing them to confidence and
kindness. The iron-hearted soldier had not yet disclosed the
darker side of his character. He was too weak to do so. The
hour of conquest had not yet come.

In every place Pizarro received the same accounts of a
powerful monarch who ruled over the land, and held his
court on the mountain plains of the interior, where his capital
was depicted as blazing with gold and silver, and displaying all
the prolusion of an Oriental satrap. The Spaniards, except at
Tumbez, seem to have met with little of the precious metals
among the natives on the coast. More than one writer asserts
that they did not covet them, or, at least, by Pizarro’s orders,
affected not to do so. He would not have them betray their
appetite for gold, and actually refused gifts when they were
proffered ! 2 It is more probable that they saw little display
of wealth, except in the embellishments of the temples and
other sacred buildings, which they did not dare to violate.
The precious metals, reserved for the uses of religion, and for
persons of high degree, were not likely to abound in remote
towns and hamlets on the coast.

Yet the Spaniards met with sufficient evidence of general
civilisation and power to convince them that there was much
foundation for the reports of the natives. Repeatedly they

1 “ Que resplandecian como el Sol. Llamabanles hijos del Sol por estoA
— Montesinos, Annales, MS., ano 1528.

2 Pizarro wished the natives to understand, says Father Naharro, that

their good alone, and not the love of gold, had led him to their distant
land ! “ Sin haver querido recibir el oro, plata, i perlas que les ofrecieron,

i fin de que conociesen no era codicia, sino deseo.de su bien el que les
habia traido de tan lejas tierras las suyas. — Relacion Sumaiia, MS.

172 Conquest of Peru

saw structures of stone and plaster, and occasionally showing
architectural skill in the execution, if not elegance of design.
Wherever they cast anchor, they beheld green patches of
cultivated country redeemed from the sterility of nature, and
blooming with the variegated vegetation of the tropics ; while
a refined system of irrigation, by means of aqueducts and
canals, seemed to be spread like a net-work over the surface
of the country, making even the desert to blossom as the rose.
At many places where they landed they saw the great road of
the Incas which traversed the sea-coast, often, indeed, lost in the
volatile sands, where no road could be maintained, but rising
into a broad and substantial causeway, as it emerged on a firmer
soil. Such a provision for internal communication was in itself
no slight monument of power and civilisation.

Still beating to the south, Pizarro passed the site of the
future flourishing city of Truxillo, founded by himself some
years later, and pressed on till he rode off the port of Santa.
It stood on the banks of a broad and beautiful stream ; but
the surrounding country was so exceedingly arid that it was fre¬
quently selected as a burial-place, by the Peruvians, who found
the soil most favourable for the preservation of their mummies.
So numerous, indeed, were the Indian guacas , that the place
might rather be called the abode of the dead than of the living.1

Having reached this point about the ninth degree of south¬
ern latitude, Pizarro’s followers besought him not to prosecute
the voyage further. Enough and more than enough had been
done, they said, to prove the existence and actual position of
the great Indian empire of which they had so long been in
search. Yet, with their slender force, they had no power
to profit by the discovery. All that remained, therefore, was
to return and report the success of their enterprise to the
governor of Panama. Pizarro acquiesced in the reasonableness
of this demand. He had now penetrated nine degrees farther
than any former navigator in these southern seas, and, instead
of the blight which up to this hour had seemed to hang over
his fortunes, he could now return in triumph to his country¬
men. Without hesitation, therefore, he prepared to retrace his
course, and stood again towards the north.

1 “ Lo que mas me admiro, quando passe por este valle, fue ver la
muchedumbre que tienen de sepolturas : y que por todas las sierras y seca-
dales en los altos del valle : ay numero grande de apartados, hechos a su
usan9a, todo cubiertas de huessos de muertos. De manera que lo que ay
en este valle mas que ver, es las sepolturas de los muertos, y los campos
que labraron siendo vivos.” — Cieza de Leon, Cronica, cap. Ixx.

Discovery of Peru 173

On his way he touched at several places where he had before
landed. At one of these, called by the Spaniards Santa Cruz,
he had been invited on shore by an Indian woman of rank,
and had promised to visit her on his return. No sooner did
his vessel cast anchor off the village where she lived than she
came on board, followed by a numerous train of attendants.
Pizarro received her with every mark of respect, and on her
departure presented her with some trinkets which had a real
value in the eyes of an Indian princess. She urged the
Spanish commander and his companions to return the visit,
engaging to send a number of hostages on board as security
for their good treatment. Pizarro assured her that the frank
confidence she had shown towards them proved that this was
unnecessary. Yet, no sooner did he put off in his boat the
following day to go on shore, than several of the principal
persons in the place came alongside of the ship to be received
as hostages during the absence of the Spaniards, — a singulai
proof of consideration for the sensitive apprehensions of her
guests.

Pizarro found that preparations had been made for his re¬
ception in a style of simple hospitality that evinced some degree
of taste. Arbours were formed of luxuriant and wide-spread¬
ing branches, interwoven with fragrant flowers and shrubs that
diffused a delicious perfume through the air. A banquet was
provided teeming with viands prepared in the style of the
Peruvian cookery, and with fruits and vegetables of tempting
hue and luscious to the taste, though their names and nature
were unknown to the Spaniards. After the collation was ended,
the guests were entertained with music and dancing by a troop
of young men and maidens simply attired, who exhibited in
their favourite national amusement all the agility and grace
which the supple limbs of the Peruvian Indians so well quali¬
fied them to display. Before his departure Pizarro stated to
his kind host the motives of his visit to the country, in the
same manner as he had done on other occasions, and he con¬
cluded by unfurling the royal banner of Castile, which he had
brought on shore, requesting her and her attendants to raise it
in token of their allegiance to his sovereign. This they did,
with great good humour, laughing all the while, says the
chronicler, and making it clear that they had a very imperfect
conception of the serious nature of the ceremony. Pizarro
was contented with this outward display of loyalty, and re¬
turned to his vessel well satisfied with the entertainment he
had received, and meditating, it may be, on the best mode of

174 Conquest of Peru

repaying it, hereafter, by the subjugation and conversion of
the country.

The Spanish commander did not omit to touch also at
Tumbez on his homeward voyage. Here some of his followers,
won by the comfortable aspect of the place and the manners
of the people, intimated a wish to remain, conceiving, no doubt,
that it would be better to live where they would be persons of
consequence than to return to an obscure condition in the
community of Panama. One of these men was Alonso de
Molina, the same who had first gone on shore at this place,
and been captivated by the charms of the Indian beauties.
Pizarro complied with their wishes, thinking it would not be
amiss to find, on his return, some of his own followers who
would be instructed in the language and usages of the natives.
He was also allowed to carry back in his vessel two or three
Peruvians for the similar purpose of instructing them in the
Castilian. One of them, a youth named by the Spaniards
Felipillo, plays a part of some importance in the history of
subsequent events.

On leaving Tumbez, the adventurers steered directly for
Panama, touching only on their way at the ill-fated island of
Gorgona to take on board their two companions who were left
there too ill to proceed with them. One had died, and,
receiving the other, Pizarro and his gallant little band con¬
tinued their voyage ; and, after an absence of at least eighteen
months, found themselves once more safely riding at anchor
in the harbour of Panama.1

The sensation caused by their arrival was great, as might
have been expected. For there were few even among the
most sanguine of their friends, who did not imagine that they
had long since paid for their temerity, and fallen victims to the
climate or the natives, or miserably perished in a watery grave.
Their joy was proportionably great, therefore, as they saw the
wanderers now returned, not only in health and safety, but
with certain tidings of the fair countries which had so long
eluded their grasp. It was a moment of proud satisfaction to
the three associates, who, in spite of obloquy, derision, and
every impediment which the distrust of friends or the coldness
of government could throwT in their way, had persevered in
their great enterprise until they had established the truth of

1 Conq. i Pob. del Piru, MS. — Montesinos, Annales, MS., afio 1528. —
Naharro, Relacion Sumaria, MS. — Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., MS.—
Herrera, Hist. General, dec. iv. lib. ii. cap. vi. vii. — Relacion del Primer.
Descub., MS.

Discovery of Peru 175

what had been so generally denounced as a chimera. It is
the misfortune of those daring spirits who conceive an idea too
vast for their own generation to comprehend, or, at least, to
attempt to carry out, that they pass for visionary dreamers.
Such had been the fate of Luque and his associates. The
existence of a rich Indian empire at the south, which in their
minds dwelling long on the same idea and alive to all the
arguments in its favour, had risen to the certainty of conviction,
had been derided by the rest of their countrymen as a mere
mirage of the fancy, which, on nearer approach, would melt
into air ; while the projectors who staked their fortunes on the
adventure were denounced as madmen. But their hour of
triumph, their slow and hard-earned triumph, had now arrived.

Yet the governor Pedro de los Rios did not seem, even at
this moment, to be possessed with a conviction of the magni¬
tude of the discovery, — or, perhaps, he was discouraged by
its very magnitude. When the associates, now with more
confidence, applied to him for patronage in an undertaking too
vast for their individual resources, he coldly replied, “ He had
no desire to build up other estates at the expense of his own ;
nor would he be led to throw away more lives than had already
been sacrificed by the cheap display of gold and silver toys and
a few Indian sheep ! ” 1

Sorely disheartened by this repulse from the only quarter
whence effectual aid could be expected, the confederates,
without funds, and with credit nearly exhausted by their past
efforts, were perplexed in the extreme. Yet to stop now, —
what was it but to abandon the rich mine which their own
industry and perseverance had laid open for others to work at
pleasure ? In this extremity the fruitful mind of Luque
suggested the only expedient by which they could hope for
success. This was to apply to the Crown itself. No one was
so much interested in the result of the expedition. It was for
the government, indeed, that discoveries were to be made,
that the country was to be conquered. The government alone
was competent to provide the requisite means, and was likely
to take a much broader and more liberal view of the matter
than a petty colonial officer.

But who was there qualified to take charge of this delicate
mission ? Luque was chained by his professional duties to

1 “No entendia de despoblar su governacion, para que se fuesen a poblar
nuevas tierras, muriendo en tal demanda mas gente de la que havia muerto,
cebando a los ombres con la muestra de las ovejas, oro, i plata, que havian
traido. ” — Herrera, Hist. General, dec. iv. lib. iii. cap. i.

176 Conquest of Peru

Panama ; and his associates, unlettered soldiers, were much
better fitted for the business of the camp than of the court.
Almagro, blunt, though somewhat swelling and ostentatious in
his address, with a diminutive stature and a countenance
naturally plain, now much disfigured by the loss of an eye,
was not so well qualified for the mission as his companion
in arms, who, possessing a good person, and altogether a
commanding presence, was plausible, and, with all his defects
of education, could, where deeply interested, be even eloquent
in discourse. The ecclesiastic, however, suggested that the
negotiation should be committed to the Licentiate Corral, a
respectable functionary, then about to return on some public
business to the mother country. But to this Almagro strongly
objected. No one, he said, could conduct the affair so well as
the party interested in it. He had a high opinion of Pizarro’s
prudence, his discernment of character, and his cool deliberate
policy.1 He knew enough of his comrade to have confidence
that his presence of mind would not desert him, even in the
new, and therefore embarrassing circumstances in which he
would be placed at court. No one, he said, could tell the
story of their adventures with such effect, as the man who had
been the chief actor in them. No one could so well paint
the unparalleled sufferings and sacrifices which they had
encountered ; no other could tell so forcibly what had been
done, what yet remained to do, and what assistance would
be necessary to carry it into execution. He concluded with
characteristic frankness, by strongly urging his confederate to
undertake the mission.

Pizarro felt the force of Almagro’s reasoning, and, though
with undisguised reluctance, acquiesced in a measure which
was less to his taste than an expedition to the wilderness.
But Luque came into the arrangement with more difficulty.
“ God grant, my children,” exclaimed the ecclesiastic, “ that
one of you may not defraud the other of his blessing ! ” 2
Pizarro engaged to consult the interests of his associates equally
with his own. But Luque, it is clear, did not trust Pizarro.

There was some difficulty in raising the funds necessary for
putting the envoy in condition to make a suitable appearance

1 “E por pura importunacion de Almagro cupole a Pizarro, porque
siempre Almagro le tubo respeto, e deseo honrarle.” — Oviedo, Hist, de las
Indias, MS., parte iii. lib. viii. cap. i.

2 << piegue a Dios, hijos, que no os hurteis la bendicion el uno al otro,
que yo todavia holgaria, que d lo menos fuerades entrambos.” — Plerrera,
Hist. General, dec. iv. lib. iii. cap. i.

Discovery of Peru 177

at court ; so low had the credit of the confederates fallen, and
so little confidence was yet placed in the result of their splendid
discoveries. Fifteen hundred ducats were at length raised ;
and Pizarro, in the spring of 1528, bade adieu to Panama,
accompanied by Pedro de Candia.1 He took with him, also,
some of the natives, as well as two or three llamas, various
nice fabrics of cloth, with many ornaments and vases of gold
and silver, as specimens of the civilisation of the country, and
vouchers for his wonderful story.

Of all the writers on ancient Peruvian history, no one has
acquired so wide celebrity, or been so largely referred to by
later compilers, as the Inca Garcilasso de la Vega. He was
born at Cuzco, in 1540 ; and was a mestizo , that is, of mixed
descent, his father being European, and his mother Indian.
His father, Garcilasso de la Vega, was one of that illustrious
family whose achievements, both in arms and letters, shed
such lustre over the proudest period of the Castilian annals.
He came to Peru, in the suite of Pedro de Alvarado, soon
after the country had been gained by Pizarro. Garcilasso
attached himself to the fortunes of this chief, and, after his
death, to those of his brother Gonzalo, — remaining constant
to the latter, through his rebellion, up to the hour of his rout
at Xaquixaguana, when Garcilasso took the same course with
most of his faction, and passed over to the enemy. But this
demonstration of loyalty, though it saved his life, was too late
to redeem his credit with the victorious party ; and the obloquy
which he incurred by his share in the rebellion threw a cloud
over his subsequent fortunes, and even over those of his son,
as it appears, in after years.

The historian’s mother was of the Peruvian blood royal.
She was niece of Huayna Capac, and granddaughter of the
renowned Tupac Inca Yupanqui. Garcilasso, while he betrays
obvious satisfaction that the blood of the civilised European
flows in his veins, shows himself not a little proud of his
descent from the royal dynasty of Peru ; and this he intimated
by combining with his patronymic the distinguishing title of
the Peruvian princes, — subscribing himself always Garcilasso
Inca de la Vega.

His early years were passed in his native land, where he

1 “ Juntaronle mil y quinientos pesos de oro, que dio de buena voluntad
Dn Fernando de Luque.” — Montesinos, Annales, MS., afio 1528.

178 Conquest of Peru

was reared in the Roman Catholic faith, and received the
benefit of as good an education as could be obtained amidst
the incessant din of arms and civil commotion. In 1560,
when twenty years of age, he left America, and from that time
took up his residence in Spain. Here he entered the military
service, and held a captain’s commission in the war against
the Moriscos, and, afterwards, under Don John of Austria.
Though he acquitted himself honourably in his adventurous
career, he does not seem to have been satisfied with the
manner in which his services were requited by the government.
The old reproach of the father’s disloyalty still clung to the
son, and Garcilasso assures us that this circumstance defeated
all his efforts to recover the large inheritance of landed property
belonging to his mother, which had escheated to the Crown.
“Such were the prejudices against me,” says he, “that I could
not urge my ancient claims or expectations ; and I left the
army so poor and so much in debt that I did not care to show
myself again at court; but was obliged to withdraw into an
obscure solitude, where I lead a tranquil life for the brief space
that remains to me, no longer deluded by the world or its
vanities.”

The scene of this obscure retreat was not, however, as the
reader might imagine from this tone of philosophic resignation,
in the depths of some rural wilderness, but in Cordova, once
the gay capital of Moslem science, and still the busy haunt of
men. Here our philosopher occupied himself with literary
labours, the more sweet and soothing to his wounded spirit,
that they tended to illustrate the faded glories of his native
land, and exhibit them in their primitive splendour to the eyes
of his adopted countrymen. “And I have no reason to regret,”
he says in his Preface to his account of Florida, “ that Fortune
has not smiled on me, since this circumstance has opened a
literary career which, I trust, will secure to me a wider and
more enduring fame than could flow from any worldly
prosperity.”

In 1609, he gave to the world the First Part of his great
work, the Commentaries Reales , devoted to the history of the
country under the Incas; and in 1616, a few months before
his death, he finished the Second Part, embracing the story of
the Conquest, which was published at Cordova the following
year. The chronicler, who thus closed his labours with his
life, died at the ripe old age of seventy-six. He left a
considerable sum for the purchase of masses for his soul,
showing that the complaints of his poverty are not to be taken

Discovery of Peru 179

literally. His remains were interred in the cathedral church
of Cordova, in a chapel which bears the name of Garcilasso ;
and an inscription was placed on his monument, intimating
the high respect in which the historian was held both for his
moral worth and his literary attainments.

The First Part of the Commentaries Reales is occupied, as
already noticed, with the ancient history of the country,
presenting a complete picture of its civilisation under the
Incas, — far more complete than has been given by any other
writer. Garcilasso’s mother was but ten years old at the time
of her cousin Atahuallpa’s accession, or rather usurpation,
as it is called by the party of Cuzco. She had the good
fortune to escape the massacre which, according to the
chronicler, befel most of her kindred, and with her brother
continued to reside in their ancient capital after the Conquest.
Their conversations naturally turned to the good old times of
the Inca rule, which, coloured by their fond regrets, may be
presumed to have lost nothing as seen through the magnifying
medium of the past. The young Garcilasso listened greedily
to the stories which recounted the magnificence and prowess
of his royal ancestors, and though he made no use of them at
the time, they sunk deep into his memory to be treasured up
for a future occasion. When he prepared, after the lapse of
many years, in his retirement at Cordova, to compose the
history of his country, he wrote to his old companions and
schoolfellows, of the Inca family, to obtain fuller information
than he could get in Spain on various matters of historical
interest. He had witnessed in his youth the ancient ceremonies
and usages of his countrymen, understood the science of their
quipus, and mastered many of their primitive traditions. With
the assistance he now obtained from his Peruvian kindred, he
acquired a familiarity with the history of the great Inca race,
and of their national institutions, to an extent that no person
could have possessed, unless educated in the midst of them,
speaking the same language, and with the same Indian blood
flowing in his veins. Garcilasso, in short, was the representa¬
tive of the conquered race ; and we might expect to find the
lights and shadows of the picture disposed under his pencil so
as to produce an effect very different from that which they had
hitherto exhibited under the hands of the Conquerors.

Such, to a certain extent, is the fact ; and this circumstance
affords a means of comparison which would alone render his
works of great value in arriving at just historic conclusions.
But Garcilasso wrote late in life, after the story had been often

180 Conquest of Peru

told by Castilian writers. He naturally deferred much to men,
some of whom enjoyed high credit on the score both of their
scholarship and their social position. His object, he professes,
was not so much to add anything new of his own, as to correct
their errors and the misconceptions into which they had been
brought by their ignorance of the Indian languages and the
usages of his people. He does, in fact, however, go far beyond
this ; and the stores of information which he has collected
have made his work a large repository, whence later labourers
in the same field have drawn copious materials. He writes
from the fulness of his heart, and illuminates every topic that
he touches with a variety and richness of illustration that leave
little to be desired by the most importunate curiosity. The
difference between reading his Commentaries and the accounts
of European writers, is the difference that exists between
reading a work in the original and in a bald translation.
Garcilasso’s writings are an emanation from the Indian mind.

Yet his Commentaries are open to a grave objection, — and
one naturally suggested by his position. Addressing himself
to the cultivated European, he was most desirous to display
the ancient glories of his people, and still more of the Inca
race, in their most imposing form. This, doubtless, was the
great spur to his literary labours, for which previous education,
however good for the evil time on which he was cast, had far
from qualified him. Garcilasso, therefore, wrote to effect a
particular object. He stood forth as counsel for his unfortunate
countrymen, pleading the cause of that degraded race before
the tribunal of posterity. The exaggerated tone of panegyric
consequent on this, becomes apparent in every page of his
work. He pictures forth a state of society, such as an Utopian
philosopher would hardly venture to depict. His royal
ancestors become the types of every imaginary excellence, and
the golden age is revived for a nation, which, while the war
of proselytism is raging on its borders, enjoys within all the
blessings of tranquillity and peace. Even the material splendours
of the monarchy, sufficiently great in this land of gold, become
heightened, under the glowing imagination of the Inca chronicler,
into the gorgeous illusions of a fairy tale.

Yet there is truth at the bottom of his wildest conceptions,
and it would be unfair to the Indian historian to suppose that
he did not himself believe most of the magic marvels which
he describes. There is no credulity like that of a Christian
convert, — one newly converted to the faith. From long
dwelling in the darkness of paganism, his eyes, when first

Discovery of Peru 1 8 1

opened to the light of truth, have not acquired the power of
discriminating the just proportions of objects, of distinguishing
between the real and the imaginary. Garcilasso was not a
convert, indeed, for he was bred from infancy in the Roman
Catholic faith. But he was surrounded by converts and
neophytes, — by those of his own blood, who, after practising
all their lives the rites of paganism, were now first admitted
into the Christian fold. He listened to the teachings of the
missionary, learned from him to give implicit credit to the
marvellous legends of the Saints, and the no less marvellous
accounts of his own victories in his spiritual warfare for the
propagation of the faith. Thus early accustomed to such large
drafts on his credulity, his reason lost its heavenly power of
distinguishing truth from error, and he became so familiar
with the miraculous, that the miraculous was no longer a
miracle.

Yet, while large deductions are to be made on this account
from the chronicler’s reports, there is always a germ of truth
which it is not difficult to detect, and even to disengage from
the fanciful covering which envelopes it ; and after every
allowance for the exaggerations of national vanity, we shall
find an abundance of genuine information in respect to the
antiquities of his country, for which we shall look in vain
in any European writer.

Garcilasso’s work is the reflection of the age in which he
lived. It is addressed to the imagination more than to sober
reason. We are dazzled by the gorgeous spectacle it perpetually
exhibits, and delighted by the variety of amusing details and
animated gossip sprinkled over its pages. The story of the
action is perpetually varied by discussions on topics illustrating
its progress, so as to break up the monotony of the narrative,
and afford an agreeable relief to the reader. This is true of
the First Part of his great work. In the Second there was
no longer room for such discussion. But he has supplied the
place by garrulous reminiscences, personal anecdotes, incidental
adventures, and a host of trivial details, — trivial in the eyes of
the pedant, — which historians have been too willing to discard
as below the dignity of history. We have the actors in this
great drama in their private dress, become acquainted with
their personal habits, listen to their familiar sayings, and, in
short, gather up those minutiae which in the aggregate make
up so much of life and not less of character.

It is this confusion of the great and the little, thus artlessly
blended together, that constitutes one of the charms of the

1 82 Conquest of Peru

old romantic chronicle, — not the less true that, in this respect,
it approaches nearer to the usual tone of romance. It is in
such writings that we may look to find the form and pressure
of the age. The worm-eaten state-papers, official correspond¬
ence, public records, are all serviceable, indispensable to
history. They are the framework on which it is to repose;
the skeleton of facts which gives it its strength and proportions.
But they are as worthless as the dry bones of the skeleton,
unless clothed with the beautiful form and garb of humanity,
and instinct with the spirit of the age. Our debt is large to
the antiquarian, who with conscientious precision lays broad
and deep the foundations of historic truth ; and no less to the
philosophic annalist who exhibits man in the dress of public
life, — man in masquerade ; but our gratitude must surely not
be withheld from those who, like Garcilasso de la Vega, and
many a romancer of the Middle Ages, have held up the
mirror — distorted though it may somewhat be — to the interior
of life, reflecting every object, the great and the mean, the
beautiful and the deformed, with their natural prominence and
their vivacity of colouring, to the eye of the spectator. As a
work of art, such a production may be thought to be below
criticism. But, although it defy the rules of art in its com¬
position, it does not necessarily violate the principles of taste :
for it conforms in its spirit to the spirit of the age in which
it was written. And the critic who coldly condemns it on the
severe principles of art, will find a charm in its very simplicity
that will make him recur again and again to its pages, while
more correct and classical compositions are laid aside and
forgotten.

I cannot dismiss this notice of Garcilasso, though already
long protracted, without some allusion to the English translation
of his Commentaries. It appeared in James the Second’s
reign, and is the work of Sir Paul Rycaut, Knight. It was
printed at London in 1688, in folio, with considerable pre¬
tension in its outward dress, well garnished with wood-cuts,
and a frontispiece displaying the gaunt and rather sardonic
features, not of the author, but his translator. The version
keeps pace with the march of the original, corresponding pre¬
cisely in books and chapters, and seldom, though sometimes,
using the freedom so common in these ancient versions, of
abridgment and omission. Where it does depart from the
original, it is rather from ignorance than intention. Indeed,
as far as the plea of ignorance will avail him, the worthy knight
may urge it stoutly in his defence. No one who reads the

Discovery of Peru 183

book will doubt his limited acquaintance with his own tongue,
and no one who compares it with the original will deny his
ignorance of the Castilian. It contains as many blunders as
paragraphs, and most of them such as might shame a school¬
boy. Yet such are the rude charms of the original, that this
ruder version of it has found considerable favour with readers ;
and Sir Paul Rycaut’s translation, old as it is, may still be met
with in many a private as well as public library.

BOOK III

CONQUEST OF PERU

CPIAPTER I

PIZARRO’S RECEPTION AT COURT - HIS CAPITULATION WITH

THE CROWN — HE VISITS HIS BIRTHPLACE - RETURNS TO

THE NEW WORLD - DIFFICULTIES WITH ALMAGRO — HIS

THIRD EXPEDITION — ADVENTURES ON THE COAST - BATTLES

IN THE ISLE OF PUNA

I528—153I

Pizarro and his officer, having crossed the Isthmus, embarked
at Nombre de Dios for the old country, and after a good
passage, reached Seville early in the summer of 1528. There
happened to be at that time in port a person well known in
the history of Spanish adventure as the Bachelor Enciso. He
had taken an active part in the colonisation of Tierra Firme,
and had a pecuniary claim against the early colonists of Darien,
of whom Pizarro was one. Immediately on the landing of the
latter, he was seized by Enciso’s orders, and held in custody
for the debt. Pizarro, who had fled from his native land
as a forlorn and houseless adventurer, after an absence of
more than twenty years, passed most of them in unprecedented
toil and suffering, now found himself on his return the inmate
of a prison. Such was the commencement of those brilliant
fortunes which, as he had trusted, awaited him at home.
The circumstance excited general indignation ; and no sooner
was the Court advised of his arrival in the country, and
the great purpose of his mission, than orders were sent
for his release, with permission to proceed at once on his
journey.

Pizarro found the emperor at Toledo, which he was soon,
to quit, in order to embark for Italy. Spain was not the
favourite residence of Charles V., in the early part of his
reign. He was now at that period of it when he was
enjoying the full flush of his triumphs over his gallant rival of
France, whom he had defeated and taken prisoner at the great
battle of Pavia ; and the victor was at this moment preparing
to pass into Italy to receive the imperial crown from the hands

184

Conquest of Peru 185

of the Roman Pontiff. Elated by his successes and his
elevation to the German throne, Charles made little account
of his hereditary kingdom, as his ambition found so splendid
a career open to it on the wide field of European politics.
He had hitherto received too inconsiderable returns from his
transatlantic possessions to give them the attention they
deserved. But, as the recent acquisition of Mexico and the
brilliant anticipations in respect to the southern continent
were pressed upon his notice, he felt their importance as
likely to afford him the means of prosecuting his ambitious
and most expensive enterprises.

Pizarro, therefore, wTho had now come to satisfy the royal
eyes, by visible proofs of the truth of the golden rumours
which, from time to time, had reached Castile, was graciously
received by the emperor. Charles examined the various objects
which his officer exhibited to him with great attention. He
was particularly interested by the appearance of the llama, so
remarkable as the only beast of burden yet known on the new
continent; and the fine fabrics of woollen cloth which were
made from its shaggy sides, gave it a much higher value, in the
eyes of the sagacious monarch, than what it possessed as an
animal for domestic labour. But the specimens of gold and
silver manufacture, and the wonderful tale which Pizarro had
to tell of the abundance of the precious metals, must have
satisfied even the cravings of royal cupidity.

Pizarro, far from being embarrassed by the novelty of his
situation, maintained his usual self-possession, and showTed that
decorum and even dignity in his address which belong to the
Castilian. He spoke in a simple and respectful style, but with
the earnestness and natural eloauence of one who had been an

actor in the scenes he described, and who was conscious that
the impression he made on his audience was to decide his
future destiny. All listened with eagerness to the account of
his strange adventures by sea and land, his wanderings in the
forests, or in the dismal and pestilent swamps on the sea-coast,
without food, almost without raiment, with feet torn and bleed¬
ing at every step, with his few companions becoming still
fewer by disease and death, and yet pressing on with uncon¬
querable spirit to extend the empire of Castile, and the name
and power of her sovereign ; but when he painted his lonely
condition on the desolate island, abandoned by the govern¬
ment at home, deserted by all but a handful of devoted
followers, his royal auditor, though not easily moved, was
affected to tears. On his departure from Toledo, Charles

m01

1 86 Conquest of Peru

commended the affairs of his vassal in the most favourable
terms to the consideration of the Council of the Indies.1

There was at this time another man at court who had come
there on a similar errand from the New World, but whose
splendid achievements had already won for him a name that
threw the rising reputation of Pizarro comparatively into the
shade. This man was Hernando Cortes, the conqueror of
Mexico. He had come home to lay an empire at the feet of
his sovereign, and to demand in return the redress of his
wrongs, and the recompense of his great services. He was at
the close of his career, as Pizarro was at the commencement of
his ; the conquerors of the North and of the South ; the two
men appointed by Providence to overturn the most potent of
the Indian dynasties, and to open the golden gates by which
the treasures of the New World were to pass into the coffers of
Spain.

Notwithstanding the emperor’s recommendation, the business
of Pizarro went forward at the tardy pace with which affairs
are usually conducted in the court of Castile. He found his
limited means gradually sinking under the expenses incurred
by his present situation, and he represented, that, unless some
measures were speedily taken in reference to his suit, however
favourable they might be in the end, he should be in no con¬
dition to profit by them. The queen, accordingly, who had
charge of the business on her husband’s departure, expedited
the affair, and on the 26th of July, 1529, she executed the
memorable Capitulation which defined the powers and privi¬
leges of Pizarro.

The instrument secured to that chief the right of discovery
and conquest in the province of Peru, or New Castile, — as the
country was then called, in the same manner as Mexico had
received the name of New Spain, — for the distance of two
hundred leagues south of Santiago. He was to receive the
titles and rank of Governor and Captain-General of the province,
together with those of Adelantado, and Alguacil Mayor, for
life ; and he was to have a salary of seven hundred and twenty-
five thousand maravedis, with the obligation of maintaining
certain officers and military retainers, corresponding with the

1 Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., MS. — Naharro, Relacion Sumaria,
MS. — Conq. i Pob. del Piru, MS. “ Plablaba tan bien en la materia, que
se llevo los aplausos y atencion en Toledo donde el Emperador estaba diole
audiencia con mucho gusto, tratolo amoroso, y oyole tierno, especialmente
cuando le hizo relacion de su consistencia y de los trece companeros en la
Isla en medio de tantos trabajos.” — Montesinos, Annales, MS., afio 1528.

Conquest of Peru 187

dignity of his station. He was to have the right to erect
certain fortresses, with the absolute government of them ; to
assign encomiendas of Indians, under the limitations prescribed
by law ; and, in fine, to exercise nearly all the prerogatives
incident to the authority of a viceroy.

His associate, Almagro, was declared commander of the
fortress of Tumbez, with an annual rent of three hundred
thousand maravedis, and with the further rank and privileges of
an hidalgo. The reverend Father Luque received the reward of
his services in the Bishopric of Tumbez, and he was also
declared Protector of the Indians of Peru. He was to enjoy
the yearly stipend of a thousand ducats, — to be derived, like
the other salaries and gratuities in this instrument, from the
revenues of the conquered territory.

Nor were the subordinate actors in the expedition forgotten.
Ruiz received the title of Grand Pilot of the Southern Ocean,
with a liberal provision ; Candia was placed at the head of the
artillery ; and the remaining eleven companions on the desolate
island were created hidalgos and cavalleros, and raised to
certain municipal dignities, — in prospect.

Several provisions of a liberal tenor were also made, to
encourage emigration to the country. The new settlers were
to be exempted from some of the most onerous, but customary
taxes, as the alcabala , or to be subject to them only in a
mitigated form. The tax on the precious metals drawn from
mines was to be reduced at first, to one-tenth, instead of the
fifth imposed on the same metals when obtained by barter or
by rapine.

It was expressly enjoined on Pizarro to observe the existing
regulations for the good government and protection of the
natives ; and he was required to carry out with him a specified
number of ecclesiastics, with whom he was to take counsel in
the conquest of the country, and whose efforts were to be
dedicated to the service and conversion of the Indians ; while
lawyers and attorneys, on the other hand, whose presence
was considered as boding ill to the harmony of the new
settlements, were strictly prohibited from setting foot in
them.

Pizarro, on his part, was bound in six months from the date
of the instrument, to raise a force, well equipped for the service,
of two hundred and fifty men, of whom one hundred might be
drawn from the colonies ; and the government engaged to
furnish some trifling assistance in the purchase of artillery and
military stores. Finally, he was to be prepared, in six months

188 Conquest of Peru

after his return to Panama, to leave that port and embark on
his expedition.1

Such are some of the principal provisions of this capitulation,
by which the Castilian government, with the sagacious policy
which it usually pursued on the like occasions, stimulated the
ambitious hopes of the adventurer by high-sounding titles, and
liberal promises of reward contingent on his success, but took
care to stake nothing itself on the issue of the enterprise. It
was careful to reap the fruits of his toil, but not to pay the cost
of them.

A circumstance, that could not fail to be remarked in these
provisions, was the manner in which the high and lucrative
posts were accumulated on Pizarro, to the exclusion of Almagro,
who, if he had not taken as conspicuous a part in personal toil
and exposure, had, at least, divided with him the original bur¬
den of the enterprise, and, by his labours in another direction,
had contributed quite as essentially to its success. Almagro
had willingly conceded the post of honour to his confederate ;
but it had been stipulated, on Pizarro’s departure for Spain,
that, while he solicited the office of governor and captain-general
for himself, he should secure that of Adelantado for his com¬
panion. In like manner, he had engaged to apply for the see
of Tumbez for the vicar of Panama, and the office of Alguacil
Mayor for the pilot Ruiz. The bishopric took the direction
that was concerted, for the soldier could scarcely claim the
mitre of the prelate ; but the other offices, instead of their ap¬
propriate distribution, were all concentred in himself. Yet it
was in reference to his application for his friends, that Pizarro
had promised on his departure to deal fairly and honourably
by them all.2

It is stated by the military chronicler, Pedro Pizarro, that his
kinsman did, in fact, urge the suit strongly in behalf of Almagro ;
but that he was refused by the government, on the ground that

1 This remarkable document, formerly in the archives of Simancas, and
now transferred to the Archivo General de las Indias in Seville, was trans¬
cribed for the rich collection of the late Don Martin Fernandez de Navarrete,
to whose kindness I am indebted for a copy of it. — It will be found printed
entire, in the original, in Appendix , No. 7.

2 “ A1 fin se capitulo, que Francisco P^arro negociase la Governacion
para si : para Diego de Almagro, el Adelantamiento : i para Hernando de
Luaue el Obispado : i para Bartolome Ruiz, el Alguacilazgo Maior : i
Mercedes para ios que quedaban vivos, de los trece Companeros, afirmando
siempre Francisco Picarro, que todo lo queria para ellos, i prometiendo,
que negociaria lealmente, i sin ninguna cautela.” — Plerrera, Plist. General,
dec. iv. lib. iii. cap. i.

Conquest of Peru 189

offices of such paramount importance could not be committed
to different individuals. The ill effects of such an arrangement
had been long since felt in more than one of the Indian colon¬
ies, where it had led to rivalry and fatal collision.1 Pizarro,
therefore, finding his remonstrances unheeded, had no alterna¬
tive but to combine the offices in his own person, or to see the
expedition fall to the ground. This explanation of the affair
has not received the sanction of other contemporary historians.
The apprehensions expressed by Luque, at the time of Pizarro’s
assuming the mission, of some such result as actually occurred,
founded, doubtless, on a knowledge of his associate’s character,
may warrant us in distrusting the alleged vindication of his
conduct, and our distrust will not be diminished by familiarity
with his subsequent career. Pizarro’s virtue was not of a kind
to withstand temptation, though of a much weaker sort than
that now thrown in his path.

The fortunate cavalier was also honoured with the habit of
St. Jago ;2 and he was authorised to make an important inno¬
vation in his family escutcheon, for, by the father’s side, he
might claim his armorial bearings. The black eagle and the
two pillars, emblazoned on the royal arms, were incorporated
with those of the Pizarros ; and an Indian city, with a vessel in
the distance on the waters, and the llama of Peru, revealed the
theatre and the character of his exploits ; wffiile the legend
announced, that “ under the auspices of Charles, and by the
industry, the genius, and the resources of Pizarro, the country
had been discovered and reduced to tranquillity,” thus modestly
intimating both the past and prospective services of the
conqueror.3

These arrangements having been thus completed to Pizarro’s
satisfaction, he left Toledo for Truxillo, his native place, in
Estremadura, where he thought he should be most likely to

1 “ Y don Francisco Pitparro pidio conforme a lo que llevava capitulado
y hordenado con sus companeros ya dicho, y en el consejo se le rrespondio
que no avia lugar de dar governacion a dos companeros a caussa de que en
santa marta se avia dado ansi a dos companeros y el uno avia muerto al
otro . . . Pues pedido, como digo, muchas vezes por don Francisco Picarro
se les hiziese la merced a ambos companeros, se ie rrespondio, la pidiesse
parassi sino que se daria a otro, y visto que no avia lugar lo que pedia y
queria pedio se le hiziese la merced a el, y ansi se le hizo.” — Descub. y
Conq., MS.

2 Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. iii. p. 1S2. — Oviedo, Hist, de
las Indias, MS., parte iii. lib. viii. cap. i. — Caro de Torres, Ilistoria de
las Ordenes Militares, (ed. Madrid, 1629,) p. 113.

3 “ Caroli Csesaris auspicio, et labore, ingenio, ac impensa Ducis Pizarro
inventa, et pacata.” — Herrera, Hist. General, dec. iv. lib. vi. cap. v.

igo Conquest of Peru

meet with adherents for his new enterprise, and where it doubt¬
less gratified his vanity to display himself in the palmy, or at
least promising, state of his present circumstances. If vanity
be ever pardonable, it is certainly in a man who, born in an
obscure station in life, without family, interest, or friends to
back him, has carved out his own fortunes in the world, and,
by his own resources, triumphed over all the obstacles which
nature and accident had thrown in his way. Such was the
condition of Pizarro, as he now revisited the place of his
nativity, where he had hitherto been known only as a poor
outcast, without a home to shelter, a father to own him, or a
friend to lean upon. But he now found both friends and fol¬
lowers, and some who were eager to claim kindred with him,
and take part in his future fortunes. Among these were four
brothers. Three of them, like himself, were illegitimate ; one
of whom, named Francisco Martin de Alcantara, was related
to him by the mother’s side ; the other two, named Gonzalo
and Juan Pizarro, were descended from the father. “They
were all poor, and proud as they were poor,” says Oviedo, who
had seen them ; “and their eagerness for gain was in proportion
to their poverty.” 1

The remaining and eldest brother, named Plernando, was
a legitimate son; “legitimate,” continues the same caustic
authority, “ by his pride, as well as by his birth.” His features
were plain, even disagreeably so ; but his figure was good.
He was large of stature, and, like his brother Francis, had, on
the whole, an imposing presence.2 In his character he com¬
bined some of the worst defects incident to the Castilian. He
was jealous in the extreme ; impatient not merely of affront,
but of the least slight, and implacable in his resentment. He
was decisive in his measures, and unscrupulous in their execu¬
tion. No touch of pity had power to arrest his arm. His
arrogance was such, that he was constantly wounding the self-
love of those with whom he acted ; thus begetting an ill-will
which unnecessarily multiplied obstacles in his path. In this

1 “Trujo tres o cuatro hermanos suyos tan soberbios como pobres, e tan
hacienda como deseosos do alcanzarla. Idist. do las Indias, ISIS.,

parte iii. lib. viii. cap. i. .

2 Oviedo’s portrait of him is by no means flattering. He writes like one
too familiar with the original. “E de todos ellos el Hernando Pizarro
solo era legitimo, emas legitimado en la soberbia, hombre de alta estatura
e grueso, la lengua e labios gordos, e la punta de la nariz con sobrada carne
e encendida, y este fue el desavenidor y estorbador del sosiegy de todos
y en especial de los dos viejos companeros Francisco Pizarro e Diego de
Almagro.” — Hist, de las Indias, MS., ubi supra.

Conquest of Peru 19 1

he differed from his brother Francis, whose plausible manners
smoothed away difficulties, and conciliated confidence and co¬
operation in his enterprises. Unfortunately, the evil counsels
of Hernando exercised an influence over his brother which
more than compensated the advantages derived from his
singular capacity for business.

Notwithstanding the general interest which Pizarro’s adven¬
tures excited in his country, that chief did not find it easy to
comply with the provisions of the capitulation in respect to the
amount of his levies. Those who were most astonished by his
narrative were not always most inclined to take part in his for¬
tunes. They shrunk from the unparalleled hardships which
lay in the path of the adventurer in that direction ; and they
listened with visible distrust to the gorgeous pictures of the
golden temples and gardens of Tumbez, which they looked
upon as indebted in some degree, at least, to the colouring of
his fancy, with the obvious purpose of attracting followers to
his banner. It is even said that Pizarro would have found it
difficult to raise the necessary funds, but for the seasonable aid
of Cortes, a native of Estremadura, like himself, his companion
in arms in early days, and, according to report, his kinsman.1
No one was in a better condition to hold out a helping hand
to a brother adventurer, and probably, no one felt greater
sympathy in Pizarro’s fortunes, or greater confidence in his
eventual success, than the man who had so lately trod the
same career with renown.

The six months allowed by the capitulation had elapsed, and
Pizarro had assembled somewhat less than his stipulated com¬
plement of men, with which he was preparing to embark in a
little squadron of three vessels at Seville ; but, before they
were wholly ready, he received intelligence that the officers of
the Council of the Indies proposed to inquire into the condition
of the vessels, and ascertain how far the requisitions had been
complied with.

Without loss of time, therefore, Pizarro, afraid, if the facts
were known, that his enterprise might be nipped in the bud,
slipped his cables, and crossing the bar of San Lucar, in
January, 1530, stood for the isle of Gomera, — one of the
Canaries, — where he ordered his brother Hernando, who had
charge of the remaining vessels, to meet him.

Scarcely had he gone before the officers arrived to institute
the search. But when they objected to the deficiency of men,

1 Pizarro y Orellana, Varones liustres, p. 143.

192 Conquest of Peru

they were easily — perhaps willingly — deceived by the pretext
that the remainder had gone forward in the vessel with Pizarro.
At all events, no further obstacles were thrown in Hernando’s
way, and he was permitted, with the rest of the squadron, to
join his brother, according to agreement, at Gomera.

After a prosperous voyage, the adventurers reached the
northern coast of the great southern continent and anchored
off the port of Santa Marta. Here they received such dis¬
couraging reports of the countries to which they were bound,
of forests teeming with insects and venomous serpents, of huge
alligators that swarmed on the banks of the streams, and of
hardships and perils such as their own fears had never painted,
that several of Pizarro’s men deserted ; and their leader, think¬
ing it no longer safe to abide in such treacherous quarters, set
sail at once for Nombre de Dios.

Soon after his arrival there, he was met by his two associates,
Luque and Almagro, who had crossed the mountains for the
purpose of hearing from his own lips the precise import of his
capitulation with the Crown. Great, as might have been ex¬
pected, was Almagro’s discontent at learning the result of what
he regarded as the perfidious machinations of his associate.
“Is it thus,” he exclaimed, “that you have dealt with the
friend who shared equally with you in the trials, the dangers,
and the cost of the enterprise ; and this, notwithstanding your
solemn engagements on your departure to provide for his
interests as faithfully as your own ? How could you allow me
to be thus dishonoured in the eyes of the world by so paltry a
compensation, which seems to estimate my services as nothing
in comparison with your own ? ” 1

Pizarro, in reply, assured his companion that he had faith¬
fully urged his suit, but that the government refused to confide
powers which intrenched so closely on one another to different
hands. He had no alternative but to accept all himself or to
decline all ; and he endeavoured to mitigate Almagro’s dis¬
pleasure by representing that the country was large enough for
the ambition of both, and that the powers conferred on himself
were, in fact, conferred on Almagro, since all that he had
would ever be at his friend’s disposal, as if it were his own.
But these honeyed words did not satisfy the injured party ; and
the two captains soon after returned to Panama with feelings of
estrangement, if not hostility, towards one another, which did
not augur well for their enterprise.

1 Herrera, Hist. General, dec. iv. lib. vii. cap. ix. — Pedro Pizarro,
Descub. y Conq., MS.

Conquest of Peru 193

Still, Almagro was of a generous temper, and might have
been appeased by the politic concessions of his rival, but for
the interference of Hernando Pizarro, who, from the first hour
of their meeting, showed little respect for the veteran, which
indeed the diminutive person of the latter was not calculated to
inspire, and who now regarded him with particular aversion as
an impediment to the career of his brother.

Almagro’s friends — and his frank and liberal manners had
secured him many — were no less disgusted than himself with
the overbearing conduct of this new ally. They loudly com¬
plained that it was quite enough to suffer from the perfidy of
Pizarro, without being exposed to the insults of his family, who
had now come over with him to fatten on the spoils of con¬
quest which belonged to their leader. The rupture soon pro¬
ceeded to such a length, that Almagro avowed his intention to
prosecute the expedition without further co-operation with his
partner, and actually entered into negotiations for the purchase
of vessels for that object. But Luque, and the Licentiate
Espinosa, who had fortunately come over at that time from
St. Domingo, now interposed to repair a breach which must
end in the ruin of the enterprise, and the probable destruction
of those most interested in its success. By their mediation,
a show of reconciliation was at length effected between the
parties, on Pizarro’s assurance that he would relinquish the
dignity of Adelantado in favour of his rival, and petition the
emperor to confirm him in the possession of it — an assurance,
it may be remarked, not easy to reconcile with his former
assertion in respect to the avowed policy of the Crown in
bestowing this office. He was, moreover, to apply for a dis¬
tinct government for his associate, so soon as he had become
master of the country assigned to himself; and was to solicit
no office for either of his own brothers, until Almagro had
been first provided for. Lastly, the former contract in regard
to the division of the spoil into three equal shares between the
three original associates was confirmed in the most explicit
manner. The reconciliation thus effected among the parties
answered the temporary purpose of enabling them to go for¬
ward in concert in the expedition. But it was only a thin scar
that had healed over the wound, which, deep and rankling
within, waited only fresh cause of irritation to break out with a
virulence more fatal than ever.1

1 Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., MS. — Naharro, Relacion Sumaria, MS.
— Montesinos, Annales, MS., ano 1529. — Relacion del Primer. Descub.,
MS. — Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. i. cap. iii. Oviedo, Hist, delaslndias,

*H 3oi

194 Conquest of Peru

No time was now lost in preparing for the voyage. It
found little encouragement, however, among the colonists of
Panama, who were too familiar with the sufferings on the
former expeditions to care to undertake another, even with
the rich bribe that was held out to allure them. A few of
the old company were content to follow out the adventure
to its close ; and some additional stragglers were collected
from the province of Nicaragua, — a shoot, it may be remarked,
from the colony of Panama. But Pizarro made slender ad¬
ditions to the force brought over with him from Spain, though
this body was in better condition, and in respect to arms,
ammunition, and equipment generally, was on a much better
footing than his former levies. The whole number did not
exceed one hundred and eighty men, with twenty-seven horses
for the cavalry. He had provided himself with three vessels,
two of them of a good size, to take the place of those which
he had been compelled to leave on the opposite side of the
Isthmus at Nombre de Dios; an armament small for the
conquest of an empire, and far short of that prescribed by the
capitulation with the Crown. With this the intrepid chief
proposed to commence operations, trusting to his own suc¬
cesses, and the exertions of Almagro, who was to remain
behind, for the present, to muster reinforcements.1

On St. John the Evangelist’s day, the banners of the com¬
pany and the royal standard were consecrated in the cathedral
church of Panama ; a sermon was preached before the little
army by Fray Juan de Vargas, one of the Dominicans selected
by the government for the Peruvian mission ; and mass was
performed, and the sacrament administered to every soldier
previous to his engaging in the crusade against the infidel.2

MS., parte iii. lib. viii. cap. i. There seems to have been little good-will,
at bottom, between any of the confederates ; for Father Luque wrote to
Oviedo that both of his partners had repnid his services with ingratitude. —
“ Padre Luque. companero de estos capitanes, con cuya hacienda hicieron
ellos sus hechos, puesto que el uno e el otro se lo pagaron con ingratitud
segun a mi me lo escribio el mismo electo de su mano.” — Ibid., loc. cit.

1 The numerical estimates differ, as usual. I conform to the statement
of Pizarro’s secretary, Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. iii. p. 182.

2 “ El qual haviendo hecho bendecir en la Iglesia mayor las banderas i
estandarte real dia. de San Juan Evangelista de dicho ano de 1530, i que
todos los soldados confesasen i comulgasen en el convento de Nuestra
Senora de la Merced, dia de los Inocentes en la misa cantada que se
celehro con toda solemnidad i sermon que predico el P. Presentdo Fr. Juan
de Vargas, uno de los 5 religiosos que en cumplimiento de la obediencia
de sus prelados i orden del Emperador pasaban a la conquista.” — Naharro,
Relacion Sumaria, MS.

Conquest of Peru 195

Having thus solemnly invoked the blessing of Heaven on
the enterprise, Pizarro and his followers went on board their
vessels, which rode at anchor in the Bay of Panama, and early
in January, 1531, sallied forth on his third and last expedition
for the conquest of Peru.

It was his intention to steer direct for Tumbez, which held
out so magnificent a show of treasure on his former voyage.
But head winds and currents, as usual, baffled his purpose,
and after a run of thirteen days, much shorter than the period
formerly required for the same distance, his little squadron
came to anchor in the Bay of St. Matthew, about one degree
north ; and Pizarro, after consulting with his officers, resolved
to disembark his forces and advance along the coast, while
the vessels held their course at a convenient distance from the
shore.

The march of the troops was severe and painful in the
extreme ; for the road was constantly intersected by streams
which, swollen by the winter rains, widened at their mouths
into spacious estuaries. Pizarro, who had some previous know¬
ledge of the country, acted as guide as well as commander of
the expedition. He was ever ready to give aid where it was
needed, encouraging his followers to ford or swim the torrents
as they best could, and cheering the desponding by his own
buoyant and courageous spirit.

At length they reached a thick-settled hamlet, or rather
town, in the province of Coaque. The Spaniards rushed on
the place, and the inhabitants, without offering resistance, fled
in terror to the neighbouring forests, leaving their effects —
of much greater value than had been anticipated — in the
hands of the invaders. “We fell on them, sword in hand,”
says one of the Conquerors, with some naivete , “ for, if we
had advised the Indians of our approach, we should never
have found there such store of gold and precious stones.” 1
The natives, however, according to another authority, stayed
voluntarily; “for, as they had done no harm to the white
men, they flattered themselves none would be offered to them,
but that there would be only an interchange of good offices
with the strangers,”2 — an expectation founded, it may be, on
the good character which the Spaniards had established for

1 “ Pues llegados a este pueblo de Coaque dieron de supito sin savello
la gente del porque, si estuvieran avisados, no se tomara la cantidad de
oro y esmeraldas que en el se tomaron.” — Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y
Conq., MS.

2 Herrera, Hist. General, dec. iv. lib. vii. cap. ix.

196 Conquest of Peru

themselves on their preceding visit, but in which the simple
people now found themselves most unpleasantly deceived.

Rushing into the deserted dwellings, the invaders found
there, besides stuffs of various kinds, and food most welcome
in their famished condition, a large quantity of gold and
silver wrought into clumsy ornaments, together with many
precious stones ; for this was the region of the esmeraldas , or
emeralds, where that valuable gem was most abundant. One
of these jewels that fell into the hands of Pizarro, in this
neighbourhood, was as large as a pigeon’s egg. Unluckily,
his rude followers did not know the value of their prize ; and
they broke many of them in pieces by pounding them writh
hammers.1 They were led to this extraordinary proceeding,
it is said, by one of the Dominican missionaries, Fray Regi-
naldo de Pedraza, who assured them that this was the way to
prove the true emerald, which could not be broken. It was
observed that the good father did not subject his own jewels
to this wise experiment ; but as the stones, in consequence
of it, fell in value, being regarded merely as coloured glass,
he carried back a considerable store of them to Panama.2

The gold and silver ornaments rifled from the dwellings
were brought together and deposited in a common heap, when
a fifth was deducted for the Crown, and Pizarro distributed
the remainder in due proportions among the officers and
privates of his company. This was the usage invariably ob¬
served on the like occasions throughout the Conquest. The
invaders had embarked in a common adventure. Their in¬
terest was common, and to have allowed every one to plunder
on his own account would only have led to insubordination
and perpetual broils. All were required, therefore, on pain
of death, to contribute whatever they obtained, whether by
bargain or by rapine, to the general stock ; and all were too
much interested in the execution of the penalty to allow the
unhappy culprit, who violated the law, any chance of escape.3

1 Relacion del Primer. Descub. , MS. — Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. i.
cap. iv. “A lo que se ha entendido en las esmeraldas ovo gran hierro y
torpedad el algunas personas por no conoscellas. Aunque quieren decir
que algunos que las conoscieron las guardaron. Pero ffinalmente muchos
vbieron esmeraldas de mucho valor ; vnos las provavan en yunques, dan-
dolas con martillos, diziendo que si hera esmeralda no se quebraria ; otros
las despreciaban, diziendo que era vidrio.” — Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y
Conq., MS.

2 Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., MS. — Herrera, Hist. General, dec.
iv. lib. vii. cap. ix.

3 “Los Espanoles las rrecoxeron y juntaron el oro y la plata, porque

Conquest of Peru 197

Pizarro, with his usual policy, sent back to Panama a large
quantity of gold, no less than twenty thousand Castellanos in
value, in the belief that the sight of so much treasure, thus
speedily acquired, would settle the doubts of the wavering, and
decide them on joining his banner.1 He judged right. As
one of the Conquerors piously expresses it, “ It pleased the
Lord that we should fall in with the town of Coaque, that the
riches of the land might find credit with the people, and that
they should flock to it.”2

Pizarro, having refreshed his men, continued his march
along the coast, but no longer accompanied by the vessels,
which had returned for recruits to Panama. The road as he
advanced was chequered with strips of sandy waste, which,
drifted about by the winds, blinded the soldiers, and afforded
only treacherous footing for man and beast. The glare was
intense, and the rays of a vertical sun beat fiercely on the
iron mail and the thick quilted doublets of cotton, till the
fainting troops were almost suffocated with the heat. To add
to their distresses, a strange epidemic broke out in the little
army. It took the form of ulcers, or rather hideous warts of
great size, which covered the body, and when lanced, as was
the case with some, discharged such a quantity of blood as
proved fatal to the sufferer. Several died of this frightful
disorder, which was so sudden in its attack, and attended
with such prostration of strength, that those who lay down
well at night were unable to lift their hands to their heads in
the morning.3 The epidemic, which made its first appearance
during this invasion, and which did not long survive it, spread

asi estava mandado y hordenado sopena de la vida el que otra cossa hiziese,
porque todos lo avian de traer a monton para que de alii el governador lo
rrepartiese ; dando a cada uno confforme a su persona y meritos de servi-
cios ; y esta horden se guardo en toda esta tierra en la conquista della, y
al que se le hallara oro 6 plata escondido muriera por ello, y deste medio
nadie oso escondello.” — Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., MS.

1 The booty was great indeed, if, as Pedro Pizarro, one of the Con¬
querors present, says, it amounted in value to 200,000 gold Castellanos.
“ Aqui se hallo mucha chaquira de oro y de plata, muchas coronas
hechas de oro a manera de imperiales, y otras muchas piezas en que se
avaleo montar mas de dozientos mill Castellanos.” (Descub. y Conq.,
MS.) Naharro, Montesinos, and Herrera content themselves with stating
that he sent back 20,000 Castellanos in the vessels to Panama.

2 “ Fueron a dar en vn pueblo que se dezia Coaque que fue nuestro
Sefior servido tapasen con el, porque con lo que en el se hallo se acredito
la tierra y vino gente a ella.” — Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., MS.

3 Naharro, Relacion Sumaria, MS. — Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq.,
MS. — Montesinos, Annales, MS., ano 1530.

198 Conquest of Peru

over the country, sparing neither native nor white man.1 It
was one of those plagues from the vial of wrath, which the
destroying angel, who follows in the path of the Conqueror,
pours out on the devoted nations.

The Spaniards rarely experienced on their march either
resistance or annoyance from the inhabitants, who, instructed
by the example of Coaque, fled with their effects into the
woods and neighbouring mountains. No one came out to
welcome the strangers and offer the rites of hospitality, as on
their last visit to the land. For the white men were no longer
regarded as good beings that had come from heaven, but as
ruthless destroyers, who, invulnerable to the assaults of the
Indians, were borne along on the backs of fierce animals,
swifter than the wind, with weapons in their hands, that
scattered fire and desolation as they went. Such were the
stories now circulated of the invaders, which, preceding them
everywhere on their march, closed the hearts, if not the doors,
of the natives against them. Exhausted by the fatigue of
travel and by disease, and grievously disappointed at the
poverty of the land, which now offered no compensation for
their toils, the soldiers of Pizarro cursed the hour in which
they had enlisted under his standard, and the men of Nicar¬
agua, in particular, says the old chronicler, calling to mind
their pleasant quarters in their luxurious land, sighed only to
return to their Mahometan paradise.2

At this juncture the army was gladdened by the sight of
a vessel from Panama, which brought some supplies, together
with the royal treasurer, the veedor or inspector, the comp¬
troller, and other high officers appointed by the Crown to
attend the expedition. They had been left in Spain by
Pizarro, in consequence of his abrupt departure from that
country ; and the Council of the Indies, on learning the
circumstance, had sent instructions to Panama to prevent the
sailing of his squadron from that port. But the Spanish
government, with more wisdom, countermanded the order,
only requiring the functionaries to quicken their own de¬
parture, and take their place without loss of time in the
expedition.

1 Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte ii. lib. i. cap. xv.

2 “Aunque ellos no ninguno por aver venido, porque como avian
dexado el paraiso de Mahoma que hera Nicaragua y hallaron la isla alzada
y falta de comidas y la mayor parte de la gente enfferma y no oro ni plata
como atras avian hallado, algunos y todos se holgaran de volver de adonde
avian venido.” — Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., MS.

Conquest of Peru 199

The Spaniards in their march along the coast had now
advanced as far as Puerto Viejo. Here they were soon after
joined by another small reinforcement of about thirty men,
under an officer named Belalcazar, who subsequently rose to
high distinction in this service. Many of the followers of
Pizarro would now have halted at this spot and established
a colony there. But that chief thought more of conquering
than of colonising, at least for the present ; and he proposed,
as his first step, to get possession of Tumbez, which he
regarded as the gate of the Peruvian empire. Continuing his
march, therefore, to the shores of what is now called the
Gulf of Guayaquil, he arrived off the little island of Puna,
lying at no great distance from the Bay of Tumbez. This
island, he thought, would afford him a convenient place to
encamp until he was prepared to make his descent on the
Indian city.

The dispositions of the islanders seemed to favour his
purpose. He had not been long in their neighbourhood,
before a deputation of the natives, with their cacique at their
head, crossed over in their balsas to the main-land to welcome
the Spaniards to their residence. But the Indian interpreters
of Tumbez, who had returned with Pizarro from Spain, and
continued with the camp, put their master on his guard
against the meditated treachery of the islanders, whom they
accused of designing to destroy the Spaniards by cutting the
ropes that held together the floats, and leaving those upon
them to perish in the waters. Yet the cacique, when charged
by Pizarro with this perfidious scheme, denied it with such
an air of conscious innocence, that the Spanish commander
trusted himself and his followers, without further hesitation,
to his conveyance, and was transported in safety to the shores
of Puna.

Here he was received in an hospitable manner, and his troops
were provided with comfortable quarters. Well satisfied with
his present position, Pizarro resolved to occupy it until the
violence of the rainy season was passed, when the arrival of the
reinforcements he expected would put him in better condition
for marching into the country of the Inca.

The island, which lies in the mouth of the river of Guaya¬
quil, and is about eight leagues in length by four in breadth, at
the widest part, was at that time partially covered with a noble
growth of timber. But a large portion of it was subjected to
cultivation, and bloomed with plantations of cacao, of the sweet
potato, and the different products of a tropical clime, evincing

200

Conquest of Peru

agricultural knowledge as well as industry in the population.
They were a warlike race ; but had received from their Peru¬
vian foes the appellation of “Perfidious.” It was the brand
fastened by the Roman historians on their Carthaginian
enemies, with, perhaps, no better reason. The bold and inde¬
pendent islanders opposed a stubborn resistance to the arms of
the Incas ; and, though they had finally yielded, they had been
ever since at feud, and often in deadly hostility, with their
neighbours of Tumbez.

The latter no sooner heard of Pizarro’s arrival on the island,
than trusting, probably, to their former friendly relations with
him, they came over in some number to the Spanish quarters.
The presence of their detested rivals was by no means grateful
to the jealous inhabitants of Puna, and the prolonged resid¬
ence of the white men on their island could not be otherwise
than burdensome. In their outward demeanour they still
maintained the same show of amity ; but Pizarro’s interpreters
again put him on his guard against the proverbial perfidy of
their hosts. With his suspicions thus roused, the Spanish
commander was informed that a number of the chiefs had met
together to deliberate on a plan of insurrection. Not caring to
wait for the springing of the mine, he surrounded the place of
meeting with his soldiers, and made prisoners of the suspected
chieftains. According to one authority, they confessed their
guilt.1 This is by no means certain. Nor is it certain that
they meditated an insurrection. Yet the fact is not improbable
in itself ; though it derives little additional probability from the
assertion of the hostile interpreters. It is certain, however, that
Pizarro was satisfied of the existence of a conspiracy ; and,
without further hesitation, he abandoned his wretched prisoners,
ten or twelve in number, to the tender mercies of their rivals
of Tumbez, who instantly massacred them before his eyes.2

Maddened by this outrage, the people of Puna sprang to
arms, and threw themselves at once, with fearful yells and the
wildest menaces of despair, on the Spanish camp. The odds
of numbers were greatly in their favour, for they mustered
several thousand warriors. But the more decisive odds of arms
and discipline were on the side of their antagonists ; and, as
the Indians rushed forward in a confused mass to the assault, the

3 Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. iii. p. 183.

2 “Y el marques don Francisco P^arro, por tenellos por amigos y estu-
viesen de paz quando alia passasen, les dio algunos principales los quales
eilos matavan en presencia de los Espanoles, cortandoles los cavezas por el
cogote.” — Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y. Conq., MS.

201

Conquest of Peru

Castilians coolly received them on their long pikes, or swept
them down by the volleys of their musketry. Their ill-protected
bodies were easily cut to pieces by the sharp sword of the
Spaniard ; and Hernando Pizarro, putting himself at the head
of the cavalry, charged boldly into the midst, and scattered
them far and wide over the field, until, panic-struck by the
terrible array of steel-clad horsemen, and the stunning reports
and the flash of fire-arms, the fugitives sought shelter in the
depths of their forests. Yet the victory was owing, in some
degree, at least if we may credit the Conquerors, to the inter¬
position of Heaven ; for St. Michael and his legions were seen
high in the air above the combatants, contending with the arch¬
enemy of man, and cheering on the Christians by their example !3

Not more than three or four Spaniards fell in the fight; but
many were wounded, and among them Hernando Pizarro, who
received a severe injury in the leg from a javelin. Nor did the
war end here ; for the implacable islanders, taking advantage
of the cover of night, or of any remissness on the part of the
invaders, were ever ready to steal out of their fastnesses and
spring on their enemy’s camp, while, by cutting off his straggling
parties, and destroying his provisions, they kept him in perpetual
alarm.

In this uncomfortable situation, the Spanish commander was
gladdened by the appearance of two vessels off the island.
They brought a reinforcement consisting of a hundred volun¬
teers besides horses for the cavalry. It was commanded by
Hernando de Soto, a captain afterwards famous as the dis¬
coverer of the Mississippi, which still rolls its majestic current
over the place of his burial — a fitting monument for his remains,
as it is of his renown.1 2

1 The city of San Miguel was so named by Pizarro to commemorate the
event, — and the existence of such a city may be considered by some as
establishing the truth of the miracle. — “ En la batalla de Puna vieron
muchos, ya de los Indios, ya de los nuestros, que habia en el aire otros dos
campos, uno acaudillado por el Arcangel Sn Miguel con espada y rodela, y
otropor Luxbel y sus secuaces ; mas apenas cantaron los Castellanos la vic¬
toria huyeron los diablos, y formando un gran torvellino de viento se oyeron
en el aire unas terribles voces quedecian, Vencistenos ! Miguel vencistenos !
De aqui torno Dn Francisco Pizarro tanta devocion al sto Arcangel, que
prometio llamar la primera ciudad que fundase de su nombre ; cumpliolo
asi como veremos adelante.” — Montesinos, Annales, MS., ano 1530.

2 The transactions in Puna are given at more or less length by Naharro,

Relacion Sumaria, MS. — Conq. i Pob. del Peru, MS. — Pedro Pizarro,
Descub. yConq., MS. — Montesinos, Annales, MS., ubi supra. — Relacion
del Primer. Descub. MS. — Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. iii.
pp. 182, 1S3.

202

Conquest of Peru

This reinforcement was most welcome to Pizarro, who had
been long discontented with his position on an island, where
he found nothing to compensate the life of unintermitting
hostility which he was compelled to lead. With these recruits,
he felt himself in sufficient strength to cross over to the conti¬
nent, and resume military operations on the proper theatre for
discovery and conquest. From the Indians of Tumbez he
learned that the country had been for some time distracted by
a civil war between two sons of the late monarch, competitors
for the throne. This intelligence he regarded as of the utmost
importance, for he remembered the use which Cortes had made
of similar dissensions among the tribes of Anahuac. Indeed,
Pizarro seems to have had the example of his great predecessor
before his eyes on more occasions than this. But he fell far
short of his model ; for, notwithstanding the restraint he some¬
times put upon himself, his coarser nature and more ferocious
temper often betrayed him into acts most repugnant to sound
policy, which could never have been countenanced by the
Conqueror of Mexico.

CHAPTER II

PERU AT THE TIME OF THE CONQUEST - REIGN OF HUAYNA

CAPAC - THE INCA BROTHERS - CONTEST FOR THE EMPIRE

- TRIUMPH AND CRUELTIES OF ATAHUALLPA

Before accompanying the march of Pizarro and his followers
into the country of the Incas, it is necessary to make the reader
acquainted with the critical situation of the kingdom at that
time. For the Spaniards arrived just at the consummation of
an important revolution — at a crisis most favourable to their
views of conquest, and but for which, indeed, the conquest,
with such a handful of soldiers, could never have been
achieved.

In the latter part of the fifteenth century died Tupac Inca
Yupanqui, one of the most renowned of the “Children of the
Sun,” who, carrying the Peruvian arms across the burning
sands of Atacama, penetrated to the remote borders of Chili,
while in the opposite direction he enlarged the limits of the
empire by the acquisition of the southern provinces of Quito.
The war in this quarter was conducted by his son Huayna
Capac, who succeeded his father on the throne, and fully
equalled him in military daring and in capacity for government.

Conquest of Peru 203

Under this prince, the whole of the powerful state of Quito,
which rivalled that of Peru itself in wealth and refinement, was
brought under the sceptre of the Incas ; whose empire received,
by this conquest, the most important accession yet made to it
since the foundation of the dynasty of Manco Capac. The
remaining days of the victorious monarch were passed in re¬
ducing the independent tribes on the remote limits of his
territory, and, still more, in cementing his conquests by the
introduction of the Peruvian polity. He was actively engaged
in completing the great works of his father, especially the high¬
roads which led from Quito to the capital. He perfected the
establishment of posts, took great pains to introduce the
Quichua dialect throughout the empire, promoted a better
system of agriculture, and, in fine, encouraged the different
branches of domestic industry and the various enlightened
plans of his predecessors for the improvement of his people.
Under his sway the Peruvian monarchy reached its most palmy
state ; and under both him and his illustrious father it was
advancing with such rapid strides in the march of civilisation
as would soon have carried it to a level with the more refined
despotisms of Asia, furnishing the world, perhaps, with higher
evidence of the capabilities of the American Indian than is
elsewhere to be found on the great western continent. — But
other and gloomier destinies were in reserve for the Indian
races.

The first arrival of the white men on the South American
shores of the Pacific was about ten years before the death of
Huayna Capac, when Balboa crossed the Gulf of St. Michael,
and obtained the first clear report of the empire of the Incas.
Whether tidings of these adventurers reached the Indian
monarch’s ears is doubtful. There is no doubt, however, that
he obtained the news of the first expedition under Pizarro and
Almagro, when the latter commander penetrated as far as the
Rio de San Juan, about the fourth degree north. The accounts
which he received made a strong impression on the mind of
Huayna Capac. He discerned in the formidable prowess and
weapons of the invaders proofs of a civilisation far superior to
that of his own people. He intimated his apprehension that
they would return, and that at some day, not far distant,
perhaps, the throne of the Incas might be shaken by these
strangers, endowed with such incomprehensible powers.1 To
the vulgar eye, it was a little speck on the verge of the horizon ;

1 Sarmiento, an honest authority, tells us he had this from some of the
Inca lords who heard it. — Relacion, MS., cap. lxv.

204 Conquest of Peru

but that of the sagacious monarch seemed to descry in it the
dark thunder-cloud, that was to spread wider and wider till it
burst in fury on his nation !

There is some ground for believing thus much. But other
accounts, which have obtained a popular currency, not content
with this, connect the first tidings of the white men with pre¬
dictions long extant in the country, and with supernatural
appearances which filled the hearts of the whole nation with
dismay. Comets were seen flaming athwart the heavens.
Earthquakes shook the land ; the moon was girdled with rings
of fire of many colours ; a thunderbolt fell on one of the royal
palaces and consumed it to ashes ; and an eagle, chased by
several hawks, was seen, screaming in the air, to hover above
the great square of Cuzco, when, pierced by the talons of his
tormentors, the king of birds fell lifeless in the presence of many
of the Inca nobles, who read in this an augury of their own
destruction ! Huayna Capac himself, calling his great officers
around him, as he found he was drawing near his end, an¬
nounced the subversion of his empire by the race of white and
bearded strangers, as the consummation predicted by the
oracles after the reign of the twelfth Inca, and he enjoined it
on his vassals not to resist the decrees of Heaven, but to yield
obedience to its messengers.1

Such is the report of the impressions made by the appear¬
ance of the Spaniards in the country, reminding one of the
similar feelings of superstitious terror occasioned by their
appearance in Mexico. But the traditions of the latter land
rest on much higher authority than those of the Peruvians,
which, unsupported by contemporary testimony, rest almost
wholly on the naked assertion of one of their own nation, who
thought to find, doubtless, in the inevitable decrees of Heaven,
the best apology for the supineness of his countrymen.

It is not improbable that rumours of the advent of a strange
and mysterious race should have spread gradually among the
Indian tribes along the great table-land of the Cordilleras, and
should have shaken the hearts of the stoutest warriors with

1 A minute relation of these supernatural occurrences is given by the
Inca Garcilasso de la Vega, (Com. Real., parte i. lib. ix. cap. xiv.,) whose
situation opened to him the very best sources of information, which is more
than counterbalanced by the defects in his own character as an historian, —
his childish credulity, and his desire to magnify and mystify everything
relating to his own order, and, indeed, his nation. His work is the source
of most of the facts — and the falsehoods — that have obtained circulation in
respect to the ancient Peruvians. Unfortunately, at this distance of time,
it is not always easy to distinguish the one from the other.

Conquest of Peru 205

feelings of undefined dread, as of some impending calamity.
In this state of mind, it was natural that physical convulsions,
to which that volcanic country is peculiarly subject, should have
made an unwonted impression on their minds ; and that the
phenomena, which might have been regarded only as extra¬
ordinary, in the usual seasons of political security, should now
be interpreted by the superstitious soothsayer as the hand¬
writing on the heavens, by which the God of the Incas
proclaimed the approaching downfall of their empire.

Huayna Capac had, as usual, with the Peruvian princes, a
multitude of concubines, by whom he left a numerous posterity.
The heir to the crown, the son of his lawful wife and sister,
was named Huascar.1 At the period of the history at which
we are now arrived, he was about thirty years of age. Next to
the heir-apparent, by another wife, a cousin of the monarch’s,
came Manco Capac, a young prince who will occupy an
important place in our subsequent story. But the best beloved
of the Inca’s children was Atahuallpa. His mother was the
daughter of the last Scyri of Quito, who had died of grief, it
was said, not long after the subversion of his kingdom by
Huayna Capac. The princess was beautiful, and the Inca,
whether to gratify his passion, or, as the Peruvians say, willing
to make amends for the ruin of her parents, received her among
his concubines. The historians of Quito assert that she was
his lawful wife ; but this dignity, according to the usages of the
empire, was reserved for maidens of the Inca blood.

The latter years of Huayna Capac were passed in his new
kingdom of Quito. Atahuallpa was accordingly brought up
under his own eye, accompanied him while in his tender years
in his campaigns, slept in the same tent with his royal father,
and ate from the same plate.2 The vivacity of the boy, his

1 Huascar, in the Quichua dialect, signifies “ a cable. ” The reason of
its being given to the heir-apparent is remarkable. Huayna Capac celebrated
the birth of the prince by a festival, in which he introduced a massive gold
chain for the nobles to hold in their hands as they performed their national
dances. The chain was seven hundred feet in length, and the links nearly
as big round as a man’s wrist ! (See Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. i. cap.
xiv. — Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. ix. cap. i. ) The latter writer
had the particulars, he tells us, from his old Inca uncle, who seems to have
dealt largely in the marvellous ; not too largely for his audience, however,
as the story has been greedily circulated by most of the Castilian writers,
both of that and of the succeeding age.

2 “ Atabalipa era bien quisto de los capitanes viejos de su padre y de los
soldados, porque andubo en la guerra en su ninez y porque el en vida le
mostro tanto amor que no le dejaba comer otra cosaque lo que el le daba de
su plato.” — Sarmiento, Relacion, MS., cap. lxvi.

206 Conquest of Peru

courage and generous nature, won the affections of the old
monarch to such a degree that he resolved to depart from the
established usages of the realm, and divide his empire between
him and his elder brother Huascar. On his death-bed he
called the great officers of the crown around him, and declared
it to be his will that the ancient kingdom of Quito should pass
to Atahuallpa, who might be considered as having a natural
claim on it as the dominion of his ancestors. The rest of the
empire he settled on Huascar ; and he enjoined it on the two
brothers to acquiesce in this arrangement, and to live in amity
with each other. This was the last act of the heroic monarch,
doubtless the most impolitic of his whole life : with his dying
breath he subverted the fundamental laws of the empire ; and,
while he recommended harmony between the successors to his
authority, he left in this very division of it the seeds of inevitable
discord.1

His death took place, as seems probable, at the close of
1525, not quite seven years before Pizarro’s arrival at Puna.2
The tidings of his decease spread sorrow and consternation
throughout the land ; for, though stern and even inexorable to
the rebel and the long-resisting foe, he was a brave and
magnanimous monarch, and legislated with the enlarged views
of a prince who regarded every part of his dominions as equally
his concern. The people of Quito, flattered by the proofs
which he had given of preference for them by his permanent
residence in that country, and his embellishment of their capital,
manifested unfeigned sorrow at his loss ; and his subjects at
Cuzco, proud of the glory which his arms and his abilities had
secured for his native land, held him in no less admiration ; 3

1 Oviedo, Hist, de las Indias, MS., parte i. lib. viii. cap. ix. — Zarate,
Conq. del Peru, lib. i. cap. xii. — Sarmiento, Relacion, MS., cap. lxv. —
Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. iii. p. 201.

2 The precise date of this event, though so near the time of the Conquest,
is matter of doubt. Balboa, a contemporary with the Conquerors, and
who wrote at Quito, where the Inca died, fixes it at 1525. (Hist, du
Perou, chap, xiv.) Velasco, another inhabitant of the same place, after an
investigation of the different accounts, comes to the like conclusion. (Hist,
de Quito, tom. i. p. 232.) Dr. Robertson, after telling us that Huayna
Capac died in 1529, speaks again of this event as having happened in 1527.
(Conf. America, vol. iii. pp. 25, 381.) Any one who has been bewildered
by the chronological snarl of the ancient chronicles, will not be surprised at
meeting occasionally with such inconsistencies in a writer who is obliged to
take them as his guides.

3 One cannot doubt this monarch’s popularity with the female part of his
subjects, at least, if, as the historian of the Incas tells us, “ he was never
known to refuse a woman, of whatever age or degree she might be, any
Savour that she asked of him 1” — Com. Real., parte i. lib. viii. cap. vii.

Conquest of Peru 207

while the more thoughtful and the more timid in both countries
looked with apprehension to the future, when the sceptre of the
vast empire, instead of being swayed by an old and experienced
hand was to be consigned to rival princes, naturally jealous of
one another, and from their age necessarily exposed to the un¬
wholesome influence of crafty and ambitious counsellors. The
people testified their regret by the unwonted honours paid to
the memory of the deceased Inca. His heart was retained in
Quito, and his body, embalmed after the fashion of the country,
was transported to Cuzco to take its place in the great Temple
of the Sun by the side of the remains of his royal ancestors.
His obsequies were celebrated with sanguinary splendour in
both the capitals of his far extended empire; and several
thousands of the imperial concubines, with numerous pages
and officers of the palace, are said to have proved their sorrow
or their superstition by offering up their own lives, that they
might accompany their departed lord to the bright mansions of
the sun.1

For nearly five years after the death of Huayna Capac the
royal brothers reigned, each over his allotted portion of the
empire, without distrust of one another, or at least without
collision. It seemed as the wish of their father was to be
completely realised, and that the two states were to maintain
their respective integrity and independence as much as if they
had never been united into one. But with the manifold
causes for jealousy and discontent, and the swarms of courtly
sycophants who would find their account in fomenting these
feelings, it was easy to see that this tranquil state of things
could not long endure. Nor would it have endured so long,
but for the more gentle temper of Huascar, the only party who
had ground for complaint. He was four or five years older
than his brother, and was possessed of courage not to be
doubted ; but he was a prince of a generous and easy nature,
and perhaps, if left to himself, might have acquiesced in an
arrangement which, however unpalatable, was the will of his
deified father. But Atahuallpa was of a different temper ;
warlike, ambitious, and daring, he was constantly engaged in
enterprises for the enlargement of his own territory, though his
crafty policy was scrupulous not to aim at extending his
acquisitions in the direction of his royal brother. His restless
spirit, however, excited some alarm at the court of Cuzco, and
Huascar at length sent an envoy to Atahuallpa to remonstrate

1 Sarmiento, Relacion, MS., cap. lxv. — Herrera, Hist. General, dec. v.
lib. iii. cap. xvii.

208

Conquest of Peru

with him on his ambitious enterprises, and to require him to
render him homage for his kingdom of Quito.

This is one statement : other accounts pretend that the
immediate cause of rupture was a claim instituted by Huascar
for the territory of Tumebamba, held by his brother as part
of his patrimonial inheritance. It matters little what was
the ostensible ground of collision between persons placed
by circumstances in so false a position in regard to one
another, that collision must at some time or other inevitably
occur.

The commencement, and indeed the whole course of
hostilities which soon broke out between the rival brothers
are stated with irreconcilable and, considering the period was
so near to that of the Spanish invasion, with unaccountable
discrepancy. By some it is said that in Atahuallpa’s first
encounter with the troops of Cuzco he was defeated and made
prisoner near Tumebamba, a favourite residence of his father
in the ancient territory of Quito, and in the district of Canaris.
From this disaster he recovered by a fortunate escape from
confinement; when, regaining his capital, he soon found
himself at the head of a numerous army, led by the most able
and experienced captains in the empire. The liberal manners
of the young Atahuallpa had endeared him to the soldiers,
with whom, as we have seen, he served more than one cam¬
paign in his father's life-time. These troops were the flower of
the great army of the Inca, and some of them had grown gray
in his long military career, which had left them at the north,
where they readily transferred their allegiance to the young
sovereign of Quito. They were commanded by two officers of
great consideration, both possessed of large experience in
military affairs, and high in the confidence of the late Inca.
One of them was named Quizquiz; the other, who was the
maternal uncle of Atahuallpa, was called Chalicuchima.

With these practised warriors to guide him, the young
monarch put himself at the head of his martial array, and
directed his march towards the south. He had not advanced
farther than Ambato, about sixty miles distant from his capital,
when he fell in with a numerous host which had been sent
against him by his brother, under the command of a dis¬
tinguished chieftain of the Inca family. A bloody battle
followed which lasted the greater part of the day ; and the
theatre of combat was the skirts of the mighty Chimborazo.1

1 Garcilasso denies that anything but insignificant skirmishes took place
before the decisive action fought on the plains of Cuzco. But the Licentiate

Conquest of Peru 209

The battle ended favourably for Atahuallpa, and the Peru¬
vians were routed with great slaughter and the loss of their
commander. The prince of Quito availed himself of this
advantage to push forward his march until he arrived before
the gates of Tumebamba, which city, as well as the whole
district of Caharis, though an ancient dependency of Quito,
had sided with his rival in the contest. Entering the captive
city like a conqueror, he put the inhabitants to the sword and
razed it, with all its stately edifices, some of wrhich had been
reared by his own father, to the ground. He carried on the
same war of extermination as he marched through the offending
district of Caharis. In some places, it is said, the women and
children came out with green branches in their hands in
melancholy procession to deprecate his wrath ; but the vindic¬
tive conqueror, deaf to their entreaties, laid the country waste
with fire and sword, sparing no man capable of bearing arms
who fell into his hands.1

The fate of Caharis struck terror into the hearts of his
enemies, and one place after another opened its gates to the
victor, who held on his triumphant march towards the Peruvian
capital.- His arms experienced a temporary check before the
island of Puna, whose bold warriors maintained the cause of
his brother. After some days lost before this place, Atahuallpa
left the contest to their old enemies the people of Tumbez,
who had early given in their adhesion to him, while he re¬
sumed his. march and advanced as far as Caxamalca, about
seven degrees south. Here he halted with a detachment of
the army, sending forward the main body under the command
of his two generals, with orders to move straight upon
Cuzco. He preferred not to trust himself farther in the

Sarmiento, who gathered his accounts of these events, as he tells us, from
the actors in them, walked over the field of battle at Ambato, when the
ground was still covered with the bones of the slain. “ Yo he pasado por
este pueblo y he visto el Lugar donde dicen que esta batalla se dio y cierto
segun hay la osamenta devieron aun de morir masgente de la que cuentan.”
— Relacion, MS., cap. lxix.

1 “ Cuentan muchos Indios aquien yo lo oi, que por amansar su ira, man-
daron a un escuadron grande de ninos y a otro de hombres de toda edad,
que saliesen hasta les ricas andas donde venia con gran pompa, llevando en las
manos ramos verdes y ojas de palma, y que le pidiesen la gracia y amistad
suya para el pueblo, sin mirar !a injuria pasada, y que en tantos clamores
se lo suplicaron, y con tanta humildad, que bastara quebrantar corazones
de piedra ; mas poca impresion hicieron en el cruel de Atabalipa, porque
dicen que mando a sus capitanes y gentes que matasen & todos aquellos que
habien venido, lo cual fue hecho, no perdonando sino a algunos ninos y i
las mugeres sagradas del Templo.” — Sarmiento, Relacion, MS., cap. lxx.

210

Conquest of Peru

enemy’s country, where a defeat might be fatal. By estab¬
lishing his quarters at Caxamalca he would be able to support
his generals in case of a reverse, or at worst to secure his
retreat on Quito, until he was again in condition to renew
hostilities.

The two commanders, advancing by rapid marches, at length
crossed the Apurimac river, and arrived within a short distance
of the Peruvian capital. Meanwhile Huascar had not been
idle. On receiving tidings of the discomfiture of his army at
Ambato, he made every exertion to raise levies throughout the
country. By the advice, it is said, of his priests — the most
incompetent advisers in times of danger — he chose to await the
approach of the enemy in his own capital ; and it was not till
the latter had arrived within a few leagues of Cuzco that the
Inca, taking counsel of the same ghostly monitors, sallied forth
to give him battle.

The two armies met on the plains of Quipaypan, in the
neighbourhood of the Indian metropolis. Their numbers are
stated with the usual discrepancy ; but Atahuallpa’s troops had
considerably the advantage in discipline and experience, for
many of Huascar’s levies had been drawn hastily together from
the surrounding country. Both fought, however, with the
desperation of men who felt that everything was at stake. It
was no longer a contest for a province, but for the possession
of an empire. Atahuallpa’s troops, flushed with recent success,
fought with the confidence of those who relied on their superior
prowess ; while the loyal vassals of the Inca displayed all the
self-devotion of men who held their own lives cheap in the
service of their master.

The fight raged with the greatest obstinacy from sunrise to
sunset ; and the ground was covered with heaps of the dying
and the dead, whose bones lay bleaching on the battle-field
long after the conquest by the Spaniards. At length, fortune
declared in favour of Atahuallpa ; or rather, the usual result of
a superior discipline and military practice followed. The ranks
of the Inca were thrown into irretrievable disorder, and gave
way in all directions. The conquerors followed close on the
heels of the flying. Huascar himself, among the latter, en¬
deavoured to make his escape with about a thousand men who
remained round his person. But the royal fugitive was dis¬
covered before he had left the field ; his little party was
enveloped by clouds of the enemy, and nearly every one of
the devoted band perished in defence of their Inca. Huascar
was made prisoner, and the victorious chiefs marched at once

Conquest of Peru 21 1

on his capital, which they occupied in the name of their
sovereign.1

These events occurred in the spring of 1532, a few months
before the landing of the Spaniards. The tidings of the
success of his arms and the capture of his unfortunate brother
reached Atahuallpa at Caxamalca. He instantly gave orders
that Huascar should be treated with the respect due to his
rank, but that he should be removed to the strong fortress of
Xauxa, and held there in strict confinement. His orders did
not stop here, — if we are to receive the accounts of Garcilasso
de la Vega, himself of the Inca race, and by his mother’s side
nephew of the great Huayna Capac.

According to this authority, Atahuallpa invited the Inca
nobles throughout the country to assemble at Cuzco, in order
to deliberate on the best means of partitioning the empire
between him and his brother. When they had met in the
capital, they were surrounded by the soldiery of Quito, and
butchered without mercy. The motive for this perfidious act
was to exterminate the whole of the royal family, who might
each of them show a better title to the crown than the
illegitimate Atahuallpa. But the massacre did not end here.
The illegitimate offspring, like himself, half-brothers of the
monster, all, in short, who had any of the Inca blood in their
veins, were involved in it ; and with an appetite for carnage
unparalleled in the annals of the Roman Empire or of the
French Republic, Atahuallpa ordered all the females of the
blood royal, his aunts, nieces, and cousins, to be put to death,
and that, too, with the most refined and lingering tortures.
To give greater zest to his revenge, many of the executions
took place in the presence of Huascar himself, who was thus
compelled to witness the butchery of his own wives and sisters,
while, in the extremity of anguish, they in vain called on him
to protect them ! 2

1 Cieza de Leon, Cronica, cap. Ixxvii. — Oviedo, Hist, de las Indias,
MS., parte iii. lib. viii. cap. ix. — Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom.
iii. p. 202. — Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. i. cap. xii. — Sarmiento, Relacion,
MS., cap. lxx. — Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq,, MS.

2 Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. ix. cap. xxxv.-xxxix. “A las
mugeres, hermanas, tias, sobrinas, primas hermanas, y madrastas de
Atahuallpa, colgavan de los Arboles, y de muchas Horcas mui altas que
hicieron ; a unas colgaron de los cabellos, a otras por debajo de los brat^os
y a otras de otras maneras feas, que por la honestidad se callan : davanles
sus hijuelos, que los tuviesen en bra9os, tenianlos hasta que se les cafan, y
se aporreavan.” (Ibid., cap. xxxvii. ) The variety of torture shows some
invention in the writer, or, more probably, in the writer’s uncle, the ancient
Inca, the raconteur of these Blue-beard butcheries.

212

Conquest of Peru

Such is the tale told by the historian of the Incas, and
received by him, as he assures us, from his mother and uncle,
who, being children at the time, were so fortunate as to be
among the few that escaped the massacre of their house.1
And such is the account repeated by many a Castilian writer
since, without any symptom of distrust. But a tissue of un¬
provoked atrocities like these is too repugnant to the principles
of human nature, — and, indeed, to common sense,- — to warrant
our belief in them on ordinary testimony.

The annals of semi-civilised nations unhappily show that
there have been instances of similar attempts to extinguish the
whole of a noxious race, which had become the object of a
tyrant’s jealousy ; though such an attempt is about as
chimerical as it would be to extirpate any particular species
of plant, the seeds of which had been borne on every wTind
over the country. But, if the attempt to exterminate the Inca
race was actually made by Atahuallpa, how comes it that so
many of the pure descendants of the blood royal — nearly six
hundred in number — are admitted by the historian to have
been in existence seventy years after the imputed massacre ? 2
Why was the massacre, instead of being limited to the
legitimate members of the royal stock, who could show a
better title to the crown than the usurper, extended to all,
however remotely, or in whatever way, connected with the
race? Why were aged women and young maidens involved
in the proscription, and why were they subjected to such
refined and superfluous tortures, when it is obvious that
beings so impotent could have done nothing to provoke the
jealousy of the tyrant ? Why, when so many were sacrificed
from some vague apprehension of distant danger, was his rival
Huascar, together with his younger brother Manco Capac, the
two men from whom the conqueror had most to fear, suffered
to live ? Why, in short, is the wonderful tale not recorded by
others before the time of Garcilasso, and nearer by half a
century to the events themselves.3

1 “ Las crueldades, que Atahuallpa en los de la sangre real hifjo dire de
relacion de mi madre, y de un hermano suio, que se llamo Don Fernando
Huallpa Tupac Inca Yupanqui, que entonces eran ninos de menos de dicz
anos.” — Garcilasso, Com. Real., parte i. lib. ix. cap. xiv.

2 This appears from a petition for certain immunities, forwarded to Spain

in 1603, and signed by five hundred and sixty-seven Indians of the royal
Inca race. (Ibid., parte iii. lib. ix. cap. xl.) Oviedo says that Huayna
Capac left a hundred sons and daughters, and that most of them were alive
at the time of his writing . “ Tubo cien hijos y hijas, y la mayor parte de

ellos son vivos.” — Hist, de las Indias, MS., parte iii. lib. viii. cap. ix.

3 I have looked in vain for some confirmation of this story in Oviedo,

Conquest of Peru 213

That Atahuallpa may have been guilty of excesses, and
abused the rights of conquest by some gratuitous acts of
cruelty, may be readily believed ; for no one, who calls to
mind his treatment of the Canaris, — which his own apologists
do not affect to deny,1 — will doubt that he had a full measure
of the vindictive temper which belongs to

“ Those souls of fire, and Children of the Sun,

With whom revenge was virtue.”

But there is a wide difference between this and the monstrous
and most unprovoked atrocities imputed to him ; implying
a diabolical nature not to be admitted on the evidence of an
Indian partisan, the sworn foe of his house, and repeated by
Castilian chroniclers, who may naturally seek, by blazoning
the enormities of Atahuallpa, to find some apology for the
cruelty of their countrymen towards him.

The news of the great victory was borne on the wings of
the wind to Caxamaica ; and loud and long was the rejoicing,
not only in the camp of Atahuallpa, but in the town and
surrounding country ; for all now came in, eager to offer their
congratulations to the victor, and do him homage. The prince
of Quito no longer hesitated to assume the scarlet borla , the
diadem of the Incas.. His triumph was complete. He had
beaten his enemies on their own ground ; had taken their
capital ; had set his foot on the neck of his rival, and won for
himself the ancient sceptre of the Children of the Sun. But
the hour of triumph was destined to be that of his deepest
humiliation. Atahuallpa was not one of those to whom, in
the language of the Grecian bard, “ the Gods are willing to
reveal themselves.” 2 He had not read the handwriting on
the heavens. The small speck which the clear-sighted eye of
his father had discerned on the distant verge of the horizon,
though little noticed by Atahuallpa, intent on the deadly

Sarmiento, Xerez, Cieza de Leon, Zarate, Pedro Pizarro, Gomara, — all
living at the time, and having access to the best sources of information ;
and all, it may be added, disposed to do stern justice to the evil qualities
of the Indian monarch.

1 No one of the apologists of Atahuallpa goes quite so far as Father
Velasco, who, in the overflowings of his loyalty for a Quito monarch,
regards his massacre of the Canaris as a very fair retribution for their
offences. “ Si les auteurs dont je viens de parler s’etaient trouves dans les
memes circonstances qu’ Atahuallpa, et avaient eprouve autant d ’offenses
graves et de trahisons, je ne croirai jamais qu’ils eussent agi autrement.” —
Hist. de. Quito, tom. i. p. 253.

2 44 Oil/ ydp trcti irdvrecrcri 6eol (palvovrai ivapytls.”

OATS, tt. v. ioi.

214 Conquest of Peru

strife with his brother, had now risen high towards the zenith,
spreading wider and wider, till it wrapped the skies in darkness,
and was ready to burst in thunders on the devoted nation.

CHAPTER III

THE SPANIARDS LAND AT TUMBEZ — PIZARRO RECONNOITRES
THE COUNTRY — FOUNDATION OF SAN MIGUEL — MARCH
INTO THE INTERIOR - EMBASSY FROM THE INCA - ADVEN¬
TURES ON THE MARCH - REACH THE FOOT OF THE ANDES

I532

We left the Spaniards at the island of Puna, preparing to
make their descent on the neighbouring continent at Tumbez.
This port was but a few leagues distant, and Pizarro, with the
greater part of his followers, passed over in the ships, while
a few others were to transport the commander’s baggage and
the military stores on some of the Indian balsas. One of the
latter vessels which first touched the shore was surrounded,
and three persons who were on the raft were carried off by
the natives to the adjacent woods and there massacred. The
Indians then got possession of another of the balsas, containing
Pizarro’s wardrobe : but, as the men who defended it raised
loud cries for help, they reached the ears of Hernando Pizarro,
who, with a small body of horse, had effected a landing some
way farther down the shore. A broad tract of miry ground,
overflowed at high water, lay between him and the party thus
rudely assailed by the natives. The tide was out, and the
bottom was soft and dangerous. With little regard to the
danger, however, the bold cavalier spurred his horse into the
slimy depths, and followed by his men, with the mud up to
their saddle-girths, they plunged forward until they came into
the midst of the marauders, who, terrified by the strange
apparition of the horsemen, fled precipitately, without show
of fight, to the neighbouring forests.

This conduct of the natives of Tumbez is not easy to be
explained ; considering the friendly relations maintained with
the Spaniards on their preceding visit, and lately renewed in
the island of Puna. But Pizarro was still more astonished, on
entering their town, to find it not only deserted, but, with the
exception of a few buildings, entirely demolished. Four or five
of the most substantial private dwellings, the great temple, and

Conquest of Peru 215

the fortress — and these greatly damaged, and wholly despoiled
of their interior decorations — alone survived to mark the site
of the city, and attest its former splendour 1 The scene of
desolation filled the Conquerors with dismay; for even the
raw recruits, who had never visited the coast before, had
heard the marvellous stories of the golden treasures of
Tumbez, and they had confidently looked forward to them
as an easy spoil after all their fatigues. But the gold of Peru
seemed only like a deceitful phantom, which, after beckoning
them on through toil and danger, vanished the moment they
attempted to grasp it.

Pizarro despatched a small body of troops in pursuit of the
fugitives ; and, after some slight skirmishing, they got possession
of several of the natives, and among them, as it chanced, the
curaca of the place. When brought before the Spanish com¬
mander, he exonerated himself from any share in the violence
offered to the white men, saying that it was done by a lawless
party of his people, without his knowledge at the time ; and
he expressed his willingness to deliver them up to punishment,
if they could be detected. He explained the dilapidated
condition of the town by the long wars carried on with the
fierce tribes of Puna, who had at length succeeded in getting
possession of the place, and driving the inhabitants into the
neighbouring woods and mountains. The Inca, to whose
cause they were attached, was too much occupied with his
own feuds to protect them against their enemies.

Whether Pizarro gave any credit to the cacique’s exculpation
of himself may be doubted. He dissembled his suspicions,
however, and, as the Indian lord promised obedience in his
own name and that of his vassals, the Spanish general consented
to take no further notice of the affair. He seems now to have
felt for the first time, in its full force, that it was his policy to
gain the good-will of the people among whom he had thrown
himself in the face of such tremendous odds. It was, perhaps,
the excesses of which his men had been guilty in the earlier
stages of the expedition that had shaken the confidence of
the people of Tumbez, and incited them to this treacherous
retaliation.

Pizarro inquired of the natives who now, under promise of

1 Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. iii. p. 185. “ Aunque lo del

templo del Sol en quien ellos adoran era cosa de ver, porque tenian grandes
edificios, y todo el por de dentro y de fuera pintado de grandes pinturas y
ricos matizes de colores, porque los hay en aquella tierra.” — Relacion del
Primer. Descub., MS.

2l6

Conquest of Peru

impunity, came into the camp, what had become of his two
followers that remained with them in the former expedition.
The answers they gave were obscure and contradictory. Some
said, they had died of an epidemic ; others, that they had
perished in the war with Puna; and others intimated, that
they had lost their lives in consequence of some outrage
attempted on the Indian women. It was impossible to arrive
at the truth. The last account was not the least probable.
But, whatever might be the cause, there was no doubt they
had both perished.

This intelligence spread an additional gloom over the
Spaniards ; which was not dispelled by the flaming pictures
now given by the natives of the riches of the land, and of the
state and magnificence of the monarch in his distant capital
among the mountains. Nor did they credit the authenticity
of a scroll of paper, which Pizarro had obtained from an
Indian, to whom it had been delivered by one of the white
men left in the country. “ Know, whoever you may be,” said
the writing, “ that may chance to set foot in this country, that
it contains more gold and silver than there is iron in Biscay.”
This paper, when shown to the soldiers, excited only their
ridicule, as a device of their captain to keep alive their
chimerical hopes.1

Pizarro now saw that it was not politic to protract his stay
in his present quarters, where a spirit of disaffection would
soon creep into the ranks of his followers, unless their spirits
were stimulated by novelty or a life of incessant action. Yet
he felt deeply anxious to obtain more particulars than he had
hitherto gathered of the actual condition of the Peruvian
empire, of its strength and resources, of the monarch who
ruled over it, and of his present situation. He was also
desirous, before taking any decisive step for penetrating the
country, to seek out some commodious place for a settlement,
which might afford him the means of a regular communication
with the colonies, and a place of strength, on which he himself
might retreat in case of disaster.

Pie decided, therefore, to leave part of his company at
Tumbez, including those wTho, from the state of their health,
were least able to take the field, and with the remainder to

1 For the account of the transactions in Tumbez, see Pedro Pizarro,
Descub. y Conq., MS. ; — Oviedo, Hist, de las Indias, MS., parte iii. lib.
viii. cap. i. ; — Relacion del Primer. Descub., MS. ; — Herrera, Hist.
General, dec. iv. lib. Lx. cap. i. ii. ; — Xerez, Conq. del. Peru, ap. Barcia,
tom. iii. p. 185.

Conquest of Peru 217

make an excursion into the interior, and reconnoitre the land,
before deciding on any plan of operations. He set out early in
May, 1532 ; and, keeping along the more level regions himself,
sent a small detachment under the command of Hernando de
Soto to explore the skirts of the vast sierra.

He maintained a rigid discipline on the march, commanding
his soldiers to abstain from all acts of violence, and punishing
disobedience in the most prompt and resolute manner.1 The
natives rarely offered resistance. When they did so, they
were soon reduced, and Pizarro, far from vindictive measures,
was open to the first demonstrations of submission. By this
lenient and liberal policy, he soon acquired a name among
the inhabitants which effaced the unfavourable impressions
made of him in the earlier part of the campaign. The
natives, as he marched through the thick -settled hamlets which
sprinkled the level region between the Cordilleras and the
ocean, welcomed him with rustic hospitality, providing good
quarters for his troops, and abundant supplies, which cost
but little in the prolific soil of the tierra caliente. Everywhere
Pizarro made proclamation that he came in the name of the
Holy Vicar of God and of the sovereign of Spain, requiring
the obedience of the inhabitants as true children of the
Church, and vassals of his lord and master. And as the
simple people made no opposition to a formula, of which
they could not comprehend a syllable, they were admitted as
good subjects of the crown of Castile, and their act of homage
— or what was readily interpreted as such — was duly recorded
and attested by the notary.2

At the expiration of some three or four weeks spent in
reconnoitring the country, Pizarro came to the conclusion
that the most eligible site for his new settlement was in the
rich valley of Tangarala, thirty leagues south of Tumbez,
traversed by more than one stream that opens a communication

1 “ Mando el Gobernador por pregon e so graves penas que no le fuese
hecha fuerza ni descortesia, e que se les hiciese muy bueti tratamiento por
los Espanoles e sus criados.” — Oviedo, Hist, de las Indias, MS., parte iii.
lib. viii. cap. ii.

2 “ E mandabales notificar 6 dar d entender con las lenguas al requeri-
miento que su Magestad manda que se les haga a los Indios, para traellos
en conocimiento de nuestra santa fe catolica, y requiriendoles con la paz, 6
que obedezcan d la Iglesia e Apostolica de Roma, e en lo temporal den la
obediencia a su Magestad 6 a los reyes sus succesores en los reynos de
Castilla i de Leon ; respondieron que asi lo querian e harian, guardarian e
cumplirian enteramente : e el Gobernador los recibio por tales vasallos de
sus Magestades por auto publico de noiarios.” — Oviedo, Hist, de las
Indias, MS., ubi supra.

1301

2l8

Conquest of Peru

with the ocean. To this spot, accordingly, he ordered the
men left at Tumbez to repair at once in their vessels ; and no
sooner had they arrived, than busy preparations were made for
building up the town in a manner suited to the wants of the
colony. Timber was procured from the neighbouring woods.
Stones were dragged from their quarries, and edifices gradually
rose, some of which made pretensions to strength, if not to
elegance. Among them were a church, a magazine for public
stores, a hall of justice, and a fortress. A municipal govern¬
ment was organised, consisting of regidores, alcaldes, and the
usual civic functionaries. The adjacent territory was parcelled
out among the residents, and each colonist had a certain
number of the natives allotted to assist him in his labours ;
for, as Pizarro’s secretary remarks, “it being evident that the
colonists could not support themselves without the services of
the Indians, the ecclesiastics and the leaders of the expedition
all agreed that a repartimiento of the natives would serve the
cause of religion, and tend greatly to their spiritual welfare,
since they would thus have the opportunity of being initiated
in the true faith.”1

Having made these arrangements with such conscientious
regard to the welfare of the benighted heathen, Pizarro gave
his infant city the name of San Miguel, in acknowledgment of
the service rendered him by that saint in his battles with the
Indians of Puna. The site originally occupied by the settle¬
ment was afterward found to be so unhealthy, that it was
abandoned for another on the banks of the beautiful Piura.
The town is still of some note for its manufactures, though
dwindled from its ancient importance ; but the name of San
Miguel de Piura, which it bears, still commemorates the founda¬
tion of the first European colony in the empire of the Incas.

Before quitting the new settlement, Pizarro caused the gold
and silver ornaments, which he had obtained in different parts
of the country, to be melted down into one mass, and a fifth
to be deducted for the Crown. The remainder, which belonged
to the troops, he persuaded them to relinquish for the present,

1 Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., MS. — Conq. i Pob. del Peru, MS.
— Cieza de Leon, Cronica, cap. lv. — Relacion del Primer. Descub., MS.
“ Porque los vecinos, sin aiuda i servicios de los naturales, no se podian

sostener, ni poblarse el pueblo . A esta causa, con acuerdo de el

religioso i de los oficiales, que les parecio convenir asi al servicio de Dios,
i bien de los naturales, el Gobernador deposit 6 los caciques i Indios eu los
vecinos de este pueblo, porque los aiudasen a sostener, i los Cristianos los
doctrinasen en nuestra santa fe, conforme a los mandamientos de su
Magestad.” — Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. iii. p. 187.

Conquest of Peru 219

under the assurance of being repaid from the first spoils that
fell into their hands.1 With these funds, and other articles
collected in the course of the campaign, he sent back the
vessels to Panama. The gold was applied to paying off the
ship-owners and those who had furnished the stores for the
expedition. That he should so easily have persuaded his men
to resign present possession for a future contingency, is proof
that the spirit of enterprise was renewed in their bosoms in all
its former vigour, and that they looked forward with the same
buoyant confidence to the results.

In his late tour of observation, the Spanish commander had
gathered much important intelligence in regard to the state of
the kingdom. He had ascertained the result of the struggle
between the Inca brothers, and that the victor now lay with
his army encamped at the distance of only ten or twelve days’
journey from San Miguel. The accounts he heard of the
opulence and power of that monarch, and of his great southern
capital, perfectly corresponded with the general rumours before
received ; and contained, therefore, something to stagger the
confidence, as well as to stimulate the cupidity, of the invaders.

Pizarro would gladly have seen his little army strengthened
by reinforcements, however small the amount ; and, on that
account, postponed his departure for several weeks. But no
reinforcement arrived ; and, as he received no further tidings
from his associates, he judged that longer delay would pro¬
bably be attended with evils greater than those to be en¬
countered on the march ; that discontents would inevitably
spring up in a life of inaction, and the strength and spirits of
the soldier sink under the enervating influence of a tropical
climate. Yet the force at his command, amounting to less
than two hundred soldiers in all, after reserving fifty for the
protection of the new settlement, seemed but a small one for
the conquest of an empire. He might, indeed, instead of
marching against the Inca, take a southerly direction towards
the rich capital of Cuzco. But this would only be to postpone
the hour of reckoning. For in what quarter of the empire
could he hope to set his foot, where the arm of its master
would not reach him ? By such a course moreover, he would
show his own distrust of himself. He would shake that
opinion of his invincible prowess, which he had hitherto

1 “ E sacado el quinto para su Magestad, lo restante que pertenecio al
egercito de la Conquista, el Gobernador le tomo prestado de los companeros
para se lo paga del primer oro que se obiese.” — Oviedo, Hist, de las Indias,
MS., parte iii. lib. viii. cap. ii.

220

Conquest of Peru

endeavoured to impress on the natives, and which constituted
a great secret of his strength ; which, in short, held sterner
sway over the mind than the display of numbers and mere
physical force. Worse than all, such a course would impair
the confidence of his troops in themselves, and their reliance
on himself. This would be to palsy the arm of enterprise at
once. It was not to be thought of.

But while Pizarro decided to march into the interior, it is
doubtful whether he had formed any more definite plan of
action. We have no means of knowing his intentions at this
distance of time, otherwise than as they are shown by his
actions. Unfortunately, he could not write, and he has left no
record, like the inestimable Commentaries of Cortes, to en¬
lighten us as to his motives. His secretary, and some of his
companions in arms, have recited his actions in detail ; but
the motives which led to them they were not always so
competent to disclose.

It is possible that the Spanish general, even so early as the
period of his residence at San Miguel, may have meditated
some daring stroke, some effective coup- -de-main, which, like
that of Cortes, when he carried off the Aztec monarch to his
quarters, might strike terror into the hearts of the people, and
at once decide the fortunes of the day. It is more probable,
however, that he now only proposed to present himself before
the Inca, as the peaceful representative of a brother monarch,
and, by these friendly demonstrations, disarm any feeling of
hostility, or even of suspicion. When once in communication
with the Indian prince, he could regulate his future course
by circumstances.

On the 24th of September, 1532, five months after landing
at Tumbez, Pizarro marched out at the head of his little body
of adventurers from the gates of San Miguel, having enjoined
it on the colonists to treat their Indian vassals with humanity,
and to conduct themselves in such a manner as would secure
the good-will of the surrounding tribes. Their own existence,
and with it the safety of the army and the success of the
undertaking, depended on this course. In the place were to
remain the royal treasurer, the veedor or inspector of metals,
and other officers of the crown ; and the command of the
garrison was intrusted to the contador , Antonio Navarro.1
Then putting himself at the head of his troops, the chief

1Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. iii. p. 187. — Pedro Pizarro,
Descub. y Conq., MS. — Oviedo, Hist, de las Indias, MS., parte iii. lib. viii.
cap. x.

221

Conquest of Peru

struck boldly into the heart of the country, in the direction
where, as he was informed, lay the camp of the Inca. It was
a daring enterprise, thus to venture with a handful of followers
into the heart of a powerful empire, to present himself, face to
face, before the Indian monarch in his own camp, encompassed
by the flower of his victorious army ! Pizarro had already
experienced more than once the difficulty of maintaining his
ground against the rude tribes of the north, so much inferior
in strength and numbers to the warlike legions of Peru. But
the hazard of the game, as I have already more than once had
occasion to remark, constituted its great charm with the
Spaniard. The brilliant achievements of his countrymen on
the like occasions, with means so inadequate, inspired him
with confidence in his own good star : and this confidence was
one source of his success. Had he faltered for a moment, had
he stopped to calculate chances, he must inevitably have failed ;
for the odds were too great to be combated by sober reason.
They were only to be met triumphantly by the spirit of the
knight-errant.

After crossing the smooth waters of the Piura, the little army
continued to advance over a level district intersected by
streams that descended from the neighbouring Cordilleras.
The face of the country was shagged over with forests of
gigantic growth, and occasionally traversed by ridges of barren
land, that seemed like shoots of the adjacent Andes, breaking
up the surface of the region into little sequestered valleys of
singular loveliness. The soil, though rarely watered by the
rains of heaven, was naturally rich, and wherever it was re¬
freshed with moisture, as on the margins of the streams, it was
enamelled with the brightest verdure. The industry of the
inhabitants, moreover, had turned these streams to the best
account, and canals and aqueducts were seen crossing the low
lands in all directions, and spreading over the country like a
i vast network, diffusing fertility and beauty around them. The
air was scented with the sweet odours of flowers, and every¬
where the eye was refreshed by the sight of orchards laden
with unknown fruits, and of fields waving with yellow grain and
rich in luscious vegetables of every description, that teem in the
sunny clime of the equator. The Spaniards were among a
people who had carried the refinements of husbandry to a
greater extent than any yet found on the American continent ;
and, as they journeyed through this paradise of plenty, their
condition formed a pleasing contrast to what they had before
endured in the dreary wilderness of the mangroves.

222

Conquest of Peru

Everywhere, too, they were received with confiding hospitality
by the simple people ; for which they were no doubt indebted,
in a great measure, to their own inoffensive deportment.
Every Spaniard seemed to be aware that his only chance of
success lay in conciliating the good opinion of the inhabitants,
among whom he had so recklessly cast his fortunes. In most
of the hamlets, and in every place of considerable size, some
fortress was to be found, or royal caravansary, destined for the
Inca on his progresses, the ample halls of which furnished
abundant accommodations for the Spaniards, who were thus
provided with quarters along their route at the charge of the
very government which they were preparing to overturn.1

On the fifth day after leaving San Miguel, Pizarro halted in
one of these delicious valleys to give his troops repose, and to
make a more complete inspection of them. Their number
amounted in all to one hundred and seventy-seven, of which
sixty-seven were cavalry. He mustered only three arquebusiers
in his whole company, and a few crossbow-men, altogether not
exceeding twenty.2 The troops were tolerably well equipped,
and in good condition. But the watchful eye of their com¬
mander noticed with uneasiness, that, notwithstanding the
general heartiness in the cause manifested by his followers,
there were some among them whose countenances lowered with
discontent, and who, although they did not give vent to it in
open murmurs, were far from moving with their wonted alacrity.
He was aware, that, if this spirit became contagious, it would
be the ruin of the enterprise, and he thought it best to extermi¬
nate the gangrene at once, and at whatever cost, than to wait
until it had infected the whole system. He came to an
extraordinary resolution.

Calling his men together, he told them that “a crisis had
now arrived in their affairs, which it demanded all their
courage to meet. No man should think of going forward in
the expedition, who could not do so with his whole heart, or
who had the least misgiving as to its success. If any repented
of his share in it, it was not too late to turn back. San Miguel

1 Oviedo, Hist, de las Indias, MS., parte iii. lib. viii. cap. iv. — Naharro,
Relacion Sumaria, MS. — Conq. i Pob. del Piru, MS. — Relacion del Primer.
Descub., MS.

2 There is less discrepancy in the estimate of the Spanish force here than
usual. The paucity of numbers gave less room for it. No account carries
them as high as two hundred. I have adopted that of the Secretary Xerez,
(Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. iii. p. 187,) who has been followed by
Oviedo, (Hist, de las Indias, MS., parte iii. lib. i. cap. iii.,) and by the
judicious Herrera, (Hist. General, dec. v. lib. i. cap. ii.)

Conquest of Peru 223

was but poorly garrisoned, and he should be glad to see it in
greater strength. Those who chose might return to this place,
and they should be entitled to the same proportion of lands
and Indian vassals as the present residents. With the rest,
were they few or many, who chose to take their chance with
him, he should pursue the adventure to the end.” 1

It was certainly a remarkable proposal for a commander,
who was ignorant of the amount of disaffection in his ranks,
and who could not safely spare a single man from his force,
already far too feeble for the undertaking. Yet, by insisting on
the wants of the little colony of San Miguel, he afforded a
decent pretext for the secession of the malcontents, and swept
away the barrier of shame which might have still held them in
the camp. Notwithstanding the fair opening thus afforded,
there were but few, nine in all, who availed themselves of the
general’s permission. Four of these belonged to the infantry,
and five to the horse. The rest loudly declared their resolve
to go forward with their brave leader ; and, if there were some
whose voices were faint amidst the general acclamation, they,
at least, relinquished the right of complaining hereafter, since
they had voluntarily rejected the permission to return.2 This
stroke of policy in their sagacious captain was attended with
the best effects. Fie had winnowed out the few grains of dis¬
content, which, if left to themselves, might have fermented in
secret till the whole mass had swelled into mutiny. Corte's
had compelled his men to go forward heartily in his enterprise,
by burning their vessels, and thus cutting off the only means
of retreat. Pizarro, on the other hand, threw open the gates
to the disaffected and facilitated their departure. Both
judged right under their peculiar circumstances, and both were
perfectly successful.

Feeling himself strengthened instead of weakened by his
loss, Pizarro now resumed his march, and on the second day
arrived before a place called Zaran, situated in a fruitful valley
among the mountains. Some of the inhabitants had been
drawn off to swell the levies of Atahuallpa. The Spaniards
had repeated experience on their march of the oppressive

1 “ Que todos los que quiriesen bolverse a la ciudad de San Miguel y
avecindarse alii demas de los vecinos que alii quedaban el los depositaria
repartimientos de Indios con que se sortubiesen, como lo habia hecho con
los otros vecinos : e que con los Espanoles quedasen, pocos 6 muchos, iria
a conquistar e pacificar la tierra en demanda y persecucion del camino que
llevaba.” — Oviedo, Hist, de las Indias, MS., parte iii. lib. viii. cap. iii.

2 Oviedo, Hist, de las Indias, MS., loc. cit. — Herrera, Hist. General, dec.
v. lib. i. cap. ii. — Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. iii. p. 187.

224 Conquest of Peru

exactions of the Inca, who had almost depopulated some of
the valleys to obtain reinforcements for his army. The curaca
of the Indian town where Pizarro now arrived received him
with kindness and hospitality, and the troops were quartered as
usual in one of the royal tambos or caravansaries, which were
found in all the principal places.1

Yet the Spaniards saw no signs of their approach to the
royal encampment, though more time had already elapsed
than was originally allowed for reaching it. Shortly before
entering Zaran, Pizarro had heard that a Peruvian garrison was
established in a place called Caxas, lying among the hills at no
great distance from his present quarters. lie immediately
despatched a small party under Hernando de Soto in that
direction, to reconnoitre the ground, and bring him intelligence
of the actual state of things at Zaran, where he would halt
until his officer’s return.

Day after day passed on, and a week had elapsed before
tidings were received of his companions, and Pizarro was
becoming seriously alarmed for their fate, when, on the eighth
morning, Soto appeared, bringing with him an envoy from the
Inca himself. He was a person of rank, and was attended by
several followers of inferior condition. He had met the
Spaniards at Caxas, and now accompanied them on their
return, to deliver his sovereign’s message, with a present to the
Spanish commander. The present consisted of two fountains
made of stone, in the form of fortresses ; some fine stuffs of
woollen embroidered with gold and silver ; and a quantity of
goose-flesh dried and seasoned in a peculiar manner, and
much used as a perfume, in a pulverised state, by the Peruvian
nobles. 2 The Indian ambassador came charged also with his
master’s greeting to the strangers, whom Atahuallpa welcomed
to his country, and invited to visit him in his camp among the
mountains. 3

1 Conq. i Pob. del Piru, MS.

2 “ Dos fortale9as, a manera de fuente, figuradas en piedra, con que beba,
i dos cargas de patos secos, desollados, para que hechos polvos, se sahume
con ellos, porque asi se usa entre los senores de su tierra ; i que le embiaba
& decir, que el tiene voluntad de ser su amigo, i esperalle de paz en
Caxamalca.” — Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. iii. p. 189.

3 Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., MS.— Oviedo, Hist, de las Indias,
MS., parte iii. lib. viii. cap. iii. — Relacion del Primer. Descub., MS. —
Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. iii. p. 180. Garcilasso de la Vega
tells us that Atahuallpa's envoy addressed the Spanish commander in the
most humble and deprecatory manner, as Son of the Sun and of the great
god Viracocha. He adds, that he was loaded with a prodigious present
of all kinds of game, living and dead, gold and silver vases, emeralds,

Conquest of Peru 225

Pizarro well understood that the Inca’s object in this
diplomatic visit was less to do him courtesy, than to inform
himself of the strength and condition of the invaders. But
he was well pleased with the embassy, and dissembled his
consciousness of its real purpose. He caused the Peruvian to
be entertained in the best manner the camp could afford, and
paid him the respect, says one of the Conquerors, due to the
ambassador of so great a monarch.1 Pizarro urged him to
prolong his visit for some days, which the Indian envoy
declined, but made the most of his time while there, by
gleaning all the information he could in respect to the uses of
every strange article which he saw, as well as the object of the
white men’s visit to the land, and the quarter whence they
came.

The Spanish captain satisfied his curiosity in all these
particulars. The intercourse with the natives, it may be here
remarked, was maintained by means of two of the youths who
had accompanied the Conquerors on their return home from
their preceding voyage. They had been taken by Pizarro to
Spain, and, as much pains had been bestowed on teaching
them the Castilian, they now filled the office of interpreters,
and opened an easy communication with their countrymen.
It was of inestimable service ; and well did the Spanish
commander reap the fruits of his forecast.2

On the departure of the Peruvian messenger, Pizarro
presented him with a cap of crimson cloth, some cheap but
showy ornaments of glass, and other toys, which he had

turquoises, etc., etc., enough to furnish out the finest chapter of the
Arabian Nights. (Com. Real., parte ii. lib. i. cap. xix. ) It is extraordinary
that none of the Conquerors who had a quick eye for these dainties, should
allude to them! One cannot but suspect that the “old uncle” was
amusing himself at his young nephew’s expense ; and, as it has proved, at
the expense of most of his readers, who receive the Inca’s fairy tales as
historic facts.

1 “I mando, que le diesen de comer a el, i & los que con el venian, i
todo lo que huviesen menester, i fuesen bien aposentados, corao em-
bajadores de tan gran senor.” — Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. iii.
p. 189.

2 “ Los Indios de la tierra se entendian muy bien con los Espanoles,
porque aquellos mochachos Indios, que en el descubrimiento de la tierra
Pizarro truxo a Espana, entendian muy bien nuestra lengua, y los tenia
alii, con los cuales se entendia muy bien con todos los naturales de la tierra.”
(Relacion del Primer. Descub., MS.) Yet it is a proof of the ludicrous
blunders into which the Conquerors were perpetually falling, that Pizarro’s
secretary constantly confounds the Inca’s name with that of his capital.
Huayna Capac he always styles ‘‘old Cuzco,” and his son Huascar “ young
Cuzco.”

*1 301

226

Conquest of Peru

brought for the purpose from Castile. He charged the envoy
to tell his master, that the Spaniards came from a powerful
prince, who dwelt far beyond the waters ; that they had heard
much of the fame of Atahuallpa’s victories, and were come to
pay their respects to him, and to offer their services by aiding
him with their arms against his enemies ; and he might be
assured, they would not halt on the road longer than was
necessary, before presenting themselves before him.

Pizarro now received from Soto a full account of his late
expedition. That chief, on entering Caxas, found the
inhabitants mustered in hostile array, as if to dispute his
passage. But the cavalier soon convinced them of his pacific
intentions, and, laying aside their menacing attitude, they
received the Spaniards with the same courtesy which had been
shown them in most places on their march.

Here Soto found one of the royal officers, employed in
collecting the tribute for the government. Prom this
functionary he learned that the Inca was quartered with a
large army at Caxamalca, a place of considerable size on the
other side of the Cordillera, where he was enjoying the luxury
of the warm baths, supplied by natural springs, for which it
was then famous, as it is at the present day. The cavalier
gathered, also, much important information in regard to the
resources and the general policy of government, the state
maintained by the Inca, and the stern severity with which
obedience to the law was everywhere enforced. He had some
opportunity of observing this for himself, as, on entering the
village, he saw several Indians hanging dead by their heels,
having been executed for some violence offered to the Virgins
of the Sun, of whom there was a convent in the neigh¬
bourhood.1

From Caxas, De Soto had passed to the adjacent town of
Guancabamba, much larger, more populous, and better built
than the preceding. The houses, instead of being made of
clay baked in the sun, were many of them constructed of solid
stone, so nicely put together, that it was impossible to detect
the line of junction. A river, which passed through the town,
was traversed by a bridge, and the high road of the Incas,
which crossed this district, was far superior to that which the

1 “ A la entrada del pueblo havia ciertos Indios ahorcados de los pies : i
supo de este principal, que Atabalipa los mando matar, porque uno de ellos
entro en la casa de las mugeres a dormir con una ; ai qual, i i todos los
porteros que consintieron, ahorco.” — Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia,
tom iii. p. 1 88.

Conquest of Peru 227

Spaniards had seen on the sea-board. It was raised in many
places like a causeway, paved with heavy stone flags, and
bordered by trees that afforded a grateful shade to the
passenger, while streams of water were conducted through
aqueducts along the sides to slake his thirst. At certain
distances, also, they noticed small houses, which, they were
told, were for the accommodation of the traveller, who might
thus pass, without inconvenience, from one end of the
kingdom to the other.1 In another quarter they beheld one
of those magazines destined for the army, filled with grain and
with articles of clothing ; and at the entrance of the town was
a stone building, occupied by a public officer, whose business
it was to collect the tolls or duties on various commodities
brought into the place, or carried out of it.2 — These accounts
of De Soto not oniy confirmed all that the Spaniards had
heard of the Indian empire, but greatly raised their ideas of
its resources and domestic policy. They might well have
shaken the confidence of hearts less courageous.

Pizarro, before leaving his present quarters, despatched a
messenger to San Miguel with particulars of his movements,
sending, at the same time, the articles received from the Inca,
as well as those obtained at different places on the route. The
skill shown in the execution of some of these fabrics excited
great admiration, when sent to Castile. The fine woollen
cloths, especially with their rich embroidery, were pronounced
equal to silk, from which it was not easy to distinguish them.
It was probably the delicate wool of the vicuna, none of which
had then been seen in Europe.3

Pizarro, having now acquainted himself with the most direct
route to Caxamalca, — the Caxamarca of the present day, —
resumed his march, taking a direction nearly south. The first
place of any size at which he halted was Motupe, pleasantly

1 “Van por este camino canos de agua, de donde los caminantes beben,
traidos de sus nacimientos de otras partes ; y a cada jornada una casa a
manera de venta, donde se aposentan los que van e vienen.” — Oviedo,
Hist, de las Indias, MS., parte iii. lib. viii. cap. iii.

2 “ A la entrada de este camino, en el pueblo de Cajas, esta una casa al
principio de una puente, donde reside una guarda, que recibe el portazgo
de todos los que van e vienen, e paganlo en la misma cosa que llevan ; y
ninguno puede sacar carga del pueblo sino la mete. Y esta costumbre es
alii antigua.” — Oviedo, Hist, de las Indias, MS., parte iii. lib. viii. cap. iii.

3 “ Piezas de lana de la tierra, que era cosa mucho de ver segun su
primer e gentileza ; e no se sabian determinar si era seda 6 lana segun su
fineza, con muchas labores i figuras de oro de martillo, de tal manera
asentado en la ropa que era cosa de marabillar.” — Oviedo, Hist, de las
Indias, MS., parte iii. lib. viii. cap. iv.

228 Conquest of Peru

situated in a fruitful valley, among hills of no great elevation,
which cluster round the base of the Cordilleras, The place
was deserted by its curaca, who, with three hundred of its
warriors, had gone to join the standard of their Inca. Here the
general, notwithstanding his avowed purpose to push forward
without delay, halted four days. The tardiness of his move¬
ments can be explained only by the hope, which he may have
still entertained, of being joined by further reinforcements
before crossing the Cordilleras. None such appeared, how¬
ever ; and advancing across a country in which tracts of sandy
plain were occasionally relieved by a broad expanse of verdant
meadow, watered by natural streams and still more abundantly
by those brought through artificial channels, the troops at
length arrived at the borders of a river. It was broad and
deep, and the rapidity of the current opposed more than
ordinary difficulty to the passage. Pizarro, apprehensive lest
this might be disputed by the natives on the opposite bank,
ordered his brother Hernando to cross over with a small
detachment under cover of night, and secure a safe landing
for the rest of the troops. At break of day Pizarro made
preparations for his own passage, by hewing timber in the
neighbouring woods, and constructing a sort of floating bridge,
on which before nightfall the whole company passed in safety,
the horses swimming, being led by the bridle. It was a day of
severe labour, and Pizarro took his own share in it freely, like
a common soldier, having ever a word of encouragement to say
to his followers.

On reaching the opposite side, they learned from their com¬
rades that the people of the country, instead of offering
resistance, had fled in dismay. One of them, having been
taken and brought before Hernando Pizarro, refused to answer
the questions put to him respecting the Inca and his army ;
till, being put to the torture, he stated that Atahuallpa was
encamped, with his whole force, in three separate divisions,
occupying the high grounds and plains of Caxamalca. He
further stated, that the Inca was aware of the approach of the
white men and of their small number, and that he was
purposely decoying them into his own quarters, that he might
have them more completely in his power.

This account, when reported by Hernando to his brother,
caused the latter much anxiety. As the timidity of the
peasantry, however, gradually wore off, some of them mingled
with the troops, and among them the curaca, or principal per¬
son of the village. He had himself visited the royal camp, and

Conquest of Peru 229

he informed the general that Atahuallpa lay at the strong town
of Guamachucho, twenty leagues or more south of Caxamalca,
with an army of at least fifty thousand men.

These contradictory statements greatly perplexed the chief¬
tain ; and he proposed to one of the Indians who had borne
him company during a great part of the march, to go as a spy
into the Inca’s quarters, and bring him intelligence of his actual
position, and, as far as he could learn them, of his intentions
towards the Spaniards. But the man positively declined this
dangerous service, though he professed his willingness to go as
an authorised messenger of the Spanish commander.

Pizarro acquiesced in this proposal, and instructed his envoy
to assure the Inca that he was advancing with all convenient
speed to meet him. He was to acquaint the monarch with
the uniformly considerate conduct of the Spaniards towards
his subjects, in their progress through the land, and to assure
him that they were now coming in full confidence of finding in
him the same amicable feelings towards themselves. The
emissary was particularly instructed to observe if the strong
passes on the road were defended, or if any preparations of a
hostile character were to be discerned. This last intelligence
he was to communicate to the general by means of two or three
nimble-footed attendants, who were to accompany him on his
mission.1

Having taken this precaution, the wary commander again
resumed his march, and at the end of three days reached
the base of the mountain rampart, behind which lay the ancient
town of Caxamalca. Before him rose the stupendous Andes,
rock piled upon rock, — their skirts below dark with evergreen
forests, varied here and there by terraced patches of cultivated
garden, with the peasant’s cottage clinging to their shaggy
sides, and their crests of snow glittering high in the heavens, —
presenting altogether such a wild chaos of magnificence and
beauty, as no other mountain scenery in the world can show.
Across this tremendous rampart, through a labyrinth of passes,
easily capable of defence by a handful of men against an
army, the troops were now to march. To the right ran a broad
and level road, with its border of friendly shades, and wide
enough for two carriages to pass abreast. It was one of the
great routes leading to Cuzco, and seemed by its pleasant and
easy access to invite the wayworn soldier to choose it in prefer-

1 Oviedo, Hist, de las Indias, MS., parte iii. lib. viii. cap. iv.— Conq. i
Pob. del Piru, MS. — Relacion del Primer. Descub., MS. — Xerez, Conq.
del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. iii. p. 190.

230 Conquest of Peru

ence to the dangerous mountain defiles. Many were accord¬
ingly of opinion that the army should take this course, and
abandon the original destination to Caxamalca. But such was
not the decision of Pizarro.

The Spaniards had everywhere proclaimed their purpose,
he said, to visit the Inca in his camp. 'Phis purpose had been
communicated to the Inca himself. To take an opposite
direction now would only be to draw on them the imputation
of cowardice, and to incur Atahuallpa’s contempt. No alterna¬
tive remained but to march straight across the sierra to his
quarters. “ Let every one of you,” said the bold cavalier,
“ take heart and go forward like a good soldier, nothing
daunted by the smallness of your numbers. For in the greatest
extremity God ever fights for his own ; and doubt not he will
humble the pride of the heathen, and bring him to the know¬
ledge of the true faith, the great end and object of the
Conquest.” 1

Pizarro, like Cortes, possessed a good share of that frank and
manly eloquence which touches the heart of the soldier more
than the parade of rhetoric or the finest flow of elocution. He
was a soldier himself, and partook in all the feelings of the
soldier, his joys, his hopes, and his disappointments. He was
not raised by rank and education above sympathy with the
humblest of his followers. Every chord in their bosoms
vibrated with the same pulsations as his own, and the convic¬
tion of this gave him a mastery over them. “ Lead on,” they
shouted, as he finished his brief but animating address ; “lead
on wherever you think best ! We will follow with good-will ;
and you shall see that we can do our duty in the cause of God
and the King ! ” 2 There was no longer hesitation. All
thoughts were now bent on the instant passage of the Cor¬
dilleras.

1 “ Que todos se animasen y esforzasen a hacer como de ellos esperaba, y
como buenos Espanoles lo suelen hacer, e que no les pusiese temor la
multitud que se decia que habia de gente ni el poco numero de los
Cristianos ; que aunque menos fuesen e mayor el egercito contrario, la
ayuda de Dios es mucho mayor, y en las mayores necesidades socorre y
faborece a los suyos, para desbaratar y abajar la soberbia de los infieles, e
traerlos en conocimiento de nuestra santa fe catolica.” — Oviedo, Hist, de
las Indias, MS., parte iii. lib. viii. cap. iv.

2 “ Todos digeron que fuese por el camino que quisiese i viese que mas
convenia, que todos le seguirian con buena voluntad e obra al tiempo del
efecto, y veria lo que cada uno de ellos haria en servicio de Dios e de su
Magestad.” — Oviedo, Hist, de las Indias, MS., parte iii. lib. viii. cap. iv.

Conquest of Peru

231

CHAPTER IV

SEVERE PASSAGE OF THE ANDES - EMBASSIES FROM ATAHUALLPA

- THE SPANIARDS REACH CAXAMALCA - EMBASSY TO THE

INCA — INTERVIEW WITH THE INCA - DESPONDENCY OF THE

SPANIARDS

1532

That night Pizarro held a council of his principal officers, and
it was determined that he should lead the advance, consisting
of forty horse and sixty foot, and reconnoitre the ground ;
while the rest of the company, under his brother Hernando,
should occupy their present position till they received further
orders.

At early dawn the Spanish general and his detachment were
under arms, and prepared to breast the difficulties of the
sierra. These proved even greater than had been foreseen.
The path had been conducted in the most judicious manner
round the rugged and precipitous sides of the mountains, so
as best to avoid the natural impediments presented by the
ground. But it was necessarily so steep in many places, that
the cavalry were obliged to dismount, and, scrambling up as
they could, to lead their horses by the bridle. In many places,
too, where some huge crag or eminence overhung the road, this
was driven to the very verge of the precipice ; and the traveller
was compelled to wind along the narrow ledge of rock, scarcely
wide enough for his single steed, where a mis-step would
precipitate him hundreds, nay, thousands, of feet into the
dreadful abyss ! The wild passes of the sierra, practicable for
the half-naked Indian, and even for the sure and circumspect
mule, — an animal that seems to have been created for the
roads of the Cordilleras, — were formidable to the man-at-arms,
encumbered with his panoply of mail. The tremendous
fissures, or quebradas , so frightful in this mountain chain,
yawned open, as if the Andes had been split asunder by some
terrible convulsion, showing a broad expanse of the primitive
rock on their sides, partially mantled over with the spontaneous
vegetation of ages ; while their obscure depths furnished a
channel for the torrents, that, rising in the hearts of the sierra,
worked their way gradually into light, and spread over the
savannas and green valleys of the tierra caliente on their way
to the great ocean.

232 Conquest of Peru

Many of these passes afforded obvious points of defence ;
and the Spaniards, as they entered the rocky defiles, looked
with apprehension lest they might rouse some foe from his
ambush. This apprehension was heightened, as, at the
summit of a steep and narrow gorge, in which they were
engaged, they beheld a strong work, rising like a fortress, and
frowning, as it were, in gloomy defiance on the invaders. As
they drew near this building, which was of solid stone, com¬
manding an angle of the road, they almost expected to see the
dusky forms of the warriors rise over the battlements, and to
receive their tempest of missiles on their bucklers ; for it was
in so strong a position, that a few resolute men might easily
have held there an army at bay. But they had the satisfaction
to find the place untenanted ; and their spirits were greatly
raised by the conviction that the Indian monarch did not
intend to dispute their passage, when it would have been easy
to do so with success.

Pizarro now sent orders to his brother to follow without
delay ; and, after refreshing his men, continued his toilsome
ascent, and before nightfall reached an eminence crowned by
another fortress, of even greater strength than the preceding.
It was built of solid masonry, the lower part excavated from
the living rock, and the whole work executed with skill not
inferior to that of the European architect.1

Here Pizarro took up his quarters for the night. Without
waiting for the arrival of the rear, on the following morning he
resumed his march, leading still deeper into the intricate gorges
of the sierra. The climate had gradually changed, and the
men and horses, especially the latter, suffered severely from the
cold, so long accustomed as they had been to the sultry climate
of the tropics.2 The vegetation also had changed its char¬
acter ; and the magnificent timber which covered the lower
level of the country had gradually given way to the funereal
forest of pine, and, as they rose still higher, to the stunted
growth of numberless Alpine plants, whose hardy natures found
a congenial temperature in the icy atmosphere of the more
elevated regions. These dreary solitudes seemed to be nearly
abandoned by the brute creation as well as by man. The

1 “Tan ancha la cerca como qualquier fortale9a de Espana, con sus
puertas ; que si en esta tierra oviese los maestros i herramientas de Espana,
no pudiera ser mejor labrada la cerca.” — Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia,
tom. iii. p. 192.

2 “ Es tanto el frio que hace en esta sierra, que como los cabal los venian
hechos al calor, que en los valles hacia, algunos de ellos se resfriaron.” —
Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. iii. p. 191.

Conquest of Peru 233

light-footed vicuna, roaming in its native state, might be some¬
times seen looking down from some airy cliff, where the foot of
the hunter dare not venture. But instead of the feathered
tribes whose gay plumage sparkled in the deep glooms of the
tropical forests, the adventurers now beheld only the great bird
of the Andes, the loathsome condor, who, sailing high above
the clouds, followed with doleful cries in the track of the army,
as if guided by instinct in the path of blood and carnage.

At length they reached the crest of the Cordillera, where it
spreads out into a bold and bleak expanse with scarce the
vestige of vegetation, except what is afforded by the pajonal , a
dried yellow grass, which, as it is seen from below, encircling
the base of the snow-covered peaks, looks, with its brilliant
straw-colour lighted up in the rays of an ardent sun, like a set¬
ting of gold round pinnacles of burnished silver. The land
was sterile, as usual in mining districts, and they were drawing
near the once famous gold quarries on the way to Caxa-
malca : —

“ Rocks rich in gems, and mountains big with mines,

That on the high equator ridgy rise.’'

Here Pizarro halted for the coming up of the rear. The air
was sharp and frosty ; and the soldiers, spreading their tents,
lighted fires, and, huddling round them, endeavoured to find
some repose after their laborious march.1

They had not been long in these quarters, when a messenger
arrived, one of those who had accompanied the Indian envoy
sent by Pizarro, to Atahuallpa. He informed the general that
the road was free from enemies, and that an embassy from the
Inca was on its way to the Castilian camp. Pizarro now sent
back to quicken the march of the rear, as he was unwilling that
the Peruvian envoy should find him with his present diminished
numbers. The rest of the army were not far distant, and not
long after reached the encampment.

In a short time the Indian embassy also arrived, which con¬
sisted of one of the Inca nobles and several attendants, bring¬
ing a welcome present of llamas to the Spanish commander.
The Peruvian bore, also, the greetings of his master, who
wished to know when the Spaniards would arrive at Caxamalca,

1 “ £ aposentaronse los Espanoles en sus toldos 6 pabellones de algodon
de la tierra que Uevaban, e haciendo fuegos para defenderse del mucho frio
que en aquella sierra hacen, porque sin ellos no se pudieron valer sin pa-
decer mucho trabajo ; y segun a los cristianos les parecio, y aun como era
lo cierto, no podia haber mas frio en parte de Espafia en invierno.” —
Oviedo, Hist, de las lndias, MS., parte iii. lib. viii. cap. iv.

234 Conquest of Peru

that he might provide suitable refreshments for them. Pizarro
learned that the Inca had left Guamachucho, and was now
lying with a small force in the neighbourhood of Caxamalca, at
a place celebrated for its natural springs of warm water. The
Peruvian was an intelligent person, and the Spanish com¬
mander gathered from him many particulars respecting the late
contests which had distracted the empire.

As the envoy vaunted in lofty terms the military prowess and
resources of his sovereign, Pizarro thought it politic to show
that it had no power to overawe him. He expressed his satis¬
faction at the triumphs of Atahuallpa, who, he acknowledged,
had raised himself high in the rank of Indian warriors. But
he was as inferior, he added, with more policy than politeness,
to the monarch who ruled over the white men, as the petty
curacas of the country were inferior to him. This was evident
from the ease with which a few Spaniards had overrun this
great continent, subduing one nation after another, that had
offered resistance to their arms. He had been led by the fame
of Atahuallpa to visit his dominions, and to offer him his
services in his wars ; and, if he were received by the Inca in
the same friendly spirit with which he came, he was willing,
for the aid he could render him, to postpone awhile his passage
across the country to the opposite seas. The Indian, accord¬
ing to the Castilian accounts, listened with awe to this strain
of glorification from the Spanish commander. Yet it is pos¬
sible that the envoy was a better diplomatist than they
imagined ; and that he understood it was only the game of
brag at which he was playing with his more civilised antag¬
onist.1

On the succeeding morning, at an early hour, the troops
were again on their march, and for two days were occupied in
threading the airy defiles of the Cordilleras. Soon after begin¬
ning their descent on the eastern side, another emissary arrived
from the Inca, bearing a message of similar import to the pre¬
ceding, and a present, in like manner, of Peruvian sheep.
This was the same noble that had visited Pizarro in the valley.
He now came in more state, quaffing chicha — the fermented
juice of the maize — from golden goblets borne by his attend¬
ants, which sparkled in the eyes of the rapacious adventurers.2

1 Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. iii. p. 193. — Oviedo, Hist, de
las Indias, MS., parte iii. lib. viii. cap. v.

2 “ Este Embajador trafa servicio de Senor, i cinco, 6 seis Vasos de Oro
fino, con que bebia, i con ellos daba a beber a los Espanoles de la Chicha
que trafa.” — Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. iii. p. 193. — Oviedo,

Conquest of Peru 235

While he was in the camp, the Indian messenger, originally
sent by Pizarro to the Inca, returned, and no sooner did he
behold the Peruvian, and the honourable reception which he
met with from the Spaniards, than he was filled with wrath,
which would have vented itself in personal violence, but for the
interposition of the bystanders. It was hard, he said, that
this Peruvian dog should be thus courteously treated, when
he himself had nearly lost his life on a similar mission among
his countrymen. On reaching the Inca’s camp, he had been
refused admission to his presence, on the ground that he was
keeping a fast, and could not be seen. They had paid no
respect to his assertion that he came as an envoy from the
white men, and would, probably, not have suffered him to
escape with life, if he had not assured them that any violence
offered to him would be retaliated in full measure on the
persons of the Peruvian envoys, now in the Spanish quarters.
There was no doubt, he continued, of the hostile intentions of
Atahuallpa ; for he was surrounded with a powerful army,
strongly encamped about a league from Caxamalca, while that
city was entirely evacuated by its inhabitants.

To all this the Inca’s envoy coolly replied, that Pizarro’s
messenger might have reckoned on such a reception as he
had found, since he seemed to have taken with him no cre¬
dentials of his mission. As to the Inca’s fast, that was true ;
and, although he would doubtless have seen the messenger,
had he known there was one from the strangers, yet it was not
safe to disturb him at these solemn seasons, when engaged in
his religious duties. The troops by whom he was surrounded
were not numerous, considering that the Inca was at that time
carrying on an important war ; and as to Caxamalca, it was
abandoned by the inhabitants in order to make room for the
white men, who were so soon to occupy it.1

This explanation, however plausible, did not altogether
satisfy the general, for he had too deep a conviction of the
cunning of Atahuallpa, whose intentions towards the Spaniards
he had long greatly distrusted. As he proposed, however, to
keep on friendly relations with the monarch for the present,
it was obviously not his cue to manifest suspicion. Affecting,

Hist, de las Indias, MS., parte iii. lib. viii. cap. v. The latter author, in
this part of his work, has done little more than make a transcript of that of
Xerez. His indorsement of Pizarro’s secretary, however, is of value, from
the fact, that with less temptation to misstate or overstate, he enjoyed
excellent opportunities for information.

1 Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. iii. p. 194. — Oviedo, Hist, de
las Indias, MS., ubi supra.

236 Conquest of Peru

therefore, to give full credit to the explanation of the envoy,
he dismissed him with reiterated assurances of speedily
presenting himself before the Inca.

The descent of the sierra, though the Andes are less pre¬
cipitous on their eastern side than towards the west, was
attended with difficulties almost equal to those of the upward
march ; and the Spaniards felt no little satisfaction when, on
the seventh day, they arrived in view of the valley of Caxa-
malca, which, enamelled with all the beauties of cultivation,
lay unrolled like a rich and variegated carpet of verdure in
strong contrast with the dark forms of the Andes that rose up
everywhere around it. The valley is of an oval shape, ex¬
tending about five leagues in length by three in breadth. It
was inhabited by a population of a superior character to any
which the Spaniards had met on the other side of the mountains,
as was argued by the superior style of their attire and the
greater cleanliness and comfort visible both in their persons
and dwellings.1 As far as the eye could reach, the level tract
exhibited the show of a diligent and thrifty husbandry. A
broad river rolled through the meadows, supplying facilities
for copious irrigation by means of the usual canals and sub¬
terraneous aqueducts. The land, intersected with verdant
hedge-rows, was chequered with patches of various cultivation \
for the soil was rich, and the climate, if less stimulating than
that of the sultry regions of the coast, was more favourable to
the hardy products of the temperate latitudes. Below the
adventurers, with its white houses glittering in the sun, lay the
little city of Caxamalca, like a sparkling gem on the dark skirts
of the sierra. At the distance of about a league farther across
the valley might be seen columns of vapour rising up towards
the heavens, indicating the place of the famous hot baths,
much frequented by the Peruvian princes. And here too was
a spectacle less grateful to the eyes of the Spaniards, for along
the slope of the hills a white cloud of pavilions was seen
covering the ground as thick as snow-flakes, for the space
apparently of several miles. “It filled us all with amaze¬
ment,” exclaims one of the Conquerors, “ to behold the Indians
occupying so proud a position ! So many tents so well
appointed as were never seen in the Indies till now. The
spectacle caused something like confusion and even fear in the
stoutest bosom. But it was too late to turn back or to betray
the least sign of weakness, since the natives in our own com-

1 Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. iii. p. 195.

Conquest of Peru 237

pany would in such case have been the first to rise upon us.
So with as bold a countenance as we could, after coolly
surveying the ground, we prepared for our entrance into
Caxamalca.,, 1

What were the feelings of the Peruvian monarch we are not
informed, when he gazed on the martial cavalcade of the
Christians, as with banners streaming and bright panoplies
glistening in the rays of the evening sun it emerged from the
dark depths of the sierra, and advanced in hostile array over
the fair domain which, to this period, had never been trodden
by other foot than that of the red man. It might be, as several
of the reports had stated, that the Inca had purposely decoyed
the adventurers into the heart of his populous empire that he
might envelope them with his legions, and the more easily
become master of their property and persons.1 2 Or was it from
a natural feeling of curiosity, and relying on their professions of
friendship, that he had thus allowed them without any attempt
at resistance to come into his presence ? At all events, he
could hardly have felt such confidence in himself as not to
look with apprehension mingled with awe on the mysterious
strangers, who, coming from an unknown world and possessed
of such wonderful gifts, had made their way across mountain
and valley in spite of every obstacle which man and nature had
opposed to them.

Pizarro, meanwhile, forming his little corps into three
divisions, now moved forward at a more measured pace, and
in order of battle, down the slopes that led towards the Indian

1 “Y eran tantas las tiendas que parecian, que cierto nos puso harto
espanto, porque no pensabarnos que Indios pudiesen tener tan soberbia
estancia, ni tantas tiendas, ni tan a punto, lo cual hasta alii en las Indias nunca
se vio, que nos causo a tcdos los Espanoles harta confusion y temor ; aunque
no convenia mostrarse, ni menos volver atras, porque si alguna flaqueza en
nosotros sintieran, los mismos Indios que llevabamos nos mataran, y ansi
con animoso semblante, despues de haber muy bien atalayado el pueblo y
tiendas que he dicho, abajamos por el valle abajo y entramos en el pueblo
de Cajamalca.” — Relacion del Primer. Descub. , MS.

2 This was evidently the opinion of the old Conqueror, whose imperfect
manuscript forms one of the best authorities for this portion of our narrative.
“ Teniendonos en muy poco, y no haciendo cuenta que 190 hombres le
habian de ofender, dio lugar y consintio que pasasemos por aquel paso y
por otros muchos tan malos como el, porque realmente, a lo que despues
se supo y averiguo, su intencion era vernos y preguntarnos, de donde veni-
amos? y quien nos habia hechado alii? yque queriamos ? Porque era muy
sabio y discreto, y aunque. sin luz ni escriptura, amigo de saber y de sotil
entendimiento ; y despues de holgadose con nosotros, tomarnos los caballos
y las cosas que a el mas le alpacian, y sacrificar a los demas.'’ — Relacion
del Primer, Descub., MS.

238 Conquest of Peru

city. As he drew near, no one came out to welcome him ; and
he rode through the streets without meeting with a living thing
or hearing a sound, except the echoes sent back from the
deserted dwellings of the tramp of the soldiery.

It was a place of considerable size, containing about ten
thousand inhabitants, somewhat more probably than the
population assembled at this day within the walls of the
modern city of Caxamalca.1 The houses for the most part
were built of clay hardened in the sun, the roofs thatched or
of timber. Some of the more ambitious dwellings were of
hewn stone ; and there was a convent in the place occupied by
the Virgins of the Sun, and a temple dedicated to the same
tutelar deity, which last was hidden in the deep embowering
shades of a grove on the skirts of the city. On the quarter
towards the Indian camp was a square — if square it might be
called which was almost triangular in form — of an immense
size, surrounded by low buildings. These consisted of
capacious halls, with wide doors or openings communicating
with the square. They were probably intended as a sort of
barracks for the Inca’s soldiers.2 At the end of the plaza ,
looking towards the country, was a fortress of stone, with a
stairway leading from the city and a private entrance from the
adjoining suburbs. There was still another fortress on the
rising ground which commanded the town built of hewn stone,
and encompassed by three circular walls, or rather one and
the same wall, which wound up spirally around it. It was a
place of great strength, and the workmanship showed a better
knowledge of masonry, and gave a higher impression of the
architectural science of the people, than anything the Spaniards
had yet seen.3

It was late in the afternoon of the 15th of November,
1532, when the Conquerors entered the city of Caxamalca.
The weather, which had been fair during the day, now
threatened a storm, and some rain mingled with hail — for it

1 According to Stevenson, this population, which is of a very mixed
character, amounts, or did amount some thirty years ago, to about seven
thousand. That sagacious traveller gives an animated description of the
city, in which he resided some time, and which he seems to have regarded
with peculiar predilection. Yet it does not hold probably the relative rank
at the present day that it did in that of the Incas. — Residence in South
America, vol. ii. p. 13 1.

2 Carta de Hern. Pizarro, ap. Oviedo, Hist, de las Indias, MS., parte
iii. lib. viii. cap. xv. — Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. iii. p. 195.

3 “Fuer^as son, que entre Indios no se han visto tales.” — Xerez, Conq.
del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. iii. p. 195. — Relacion del Primer. Descub., MS

Conquest of Peru 239

was unusually cold — began to fall.1 Pizarro, however, was so
anxious to ascertain the dispositions of the Inca, that he
determined to send an embassy, at once, to his quarters. He
selected for this, Hernando de Soto with fifteen horse, and,
after his departure, conceiving that the number was too small,
in case of any unfriendly demonstrations by the Indians, he
ordered his brother Hernando to follow with twenty additional
troopers. This captain and one other of his party have left us
an account of the excursion.2

Between the city and the imperial camp was a causeway,
built in a substantial manner across the meadow land that
intervened. Over this the cavalry galloped at a rapid pace,
and, before they had gone a league, they came in front of
the Peruvian encampment, where it spread along the gentle
slope of the mountains. The lances of the warriors were fixed
in the ground before their tents, and the Indian soldiers were
loitering without, gazing with silent astonishment at the
Christian cavalcade, as with clangour of arms and shrill blast
of trumpet it swept by, like some fearful apparition, on the
wings of the wind.

The party soon came to a broad but shallow stream, which,
winding through the meadow, formed a defence for the Inca’s
position. Across it was a wooden bridge ; but the cavaliers,
distrusting its strength, preferred to dash through the waters,
and without difficulty gained the opposite bank. A battalion
of Indian warriors was drawn up under arms on the farther
side of the bridge, but they offered no molestation to the
Spaniards : and these latter had strict orders from Pizarro —
scarcely necessary in their present circumstances — to treat the
natives with courtesy. One of the Indians pointed out the
quarter occupied by the Inca.3

1 “ Deste a poco rato comem^o & Hover, i caer granico.” (Xerez,
Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. iii. p. 195.) Caxamalca, in the Indian
tongue, signifies “place of frost”; for the temperature, though usually
bland and genial, is sometimes affected by frosty winds from the east, very
pernicious to vegetation. — Stevenson, Residence in South America, vol. ii.
p. 129.

2 Carta de Hern. Pizarro, MS. The Letter of Hernando Pizarro,
addressed to the Royal Audience of St. Domingo, gives a full account of the
extraordinary events recorded in this and the ensuing chapter, in which
that cavalier took a prominent part. Allowing for the partialities incident
to a chief actor in the scenes he describes, no authority can rank higher.
The indefatigable Oviedo, who resided in St. Domingo, saw its importance,
and fortunately incorporated the document in his great work, Hist, de
la^ Indias, MS., parte iii. lib. viii. cap. xv. — The anonymous author of the
Relacion del Primer. Descub., MS., was also detached on this service.

8 Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq. MS. — Carta de Hern. Pizarro, MS.

240 Conquest of Peru

It was an open court-yard, with a light building or pleasure
house in the centre, having galleries running around
it, and opening in the rear on a garden. The walls were
covered with a shining plaster, both white and coloured, and
in the area before the edifice was seen a spacious tank or
reservoir of stone, fed by aqueducts that supplied it with both
warm and cold water.1 A basin of hewn stone — it may be of
a more recent construction — still bears, on the spot, the name
of the “Inca’s bath.” 2 The court was filled with Indian
nobles, dressed in gaily ornamented attire, in attendance on
the monarch, and with women of the royal household. Amidst
this assembly it was not difficult to distinguish the person of
Atahuallpa, though his dress was simpler than that of his
attendants. But he wore on his head the crimson borla or
fringe, which, surrounding the forehead, hung down as low
as the eyebrow. This was the well-known badge of Peruvian
sovereignty, and had been assumed by the monarch only
since the defeat of his brother Huascar. He was seated on a
low stool or cushion, somewhat after the Morisco or Turkish
fashion, and his nobles and principal officers stood around
him, with great ceremony, holding the stations suited to their
rank.3

The Spaniards gazed with much interest on the prince, of
whose cruelty and cunning they had heard so much, and whose
valour had secured to him the possession of the empire. But
his countenance exhibited neither the fierce passions nor the
sagacity which had been ascribed to him ; and, though in his
bearing he showmd a gravity and a calm consciousness of
authority well becoming a king, he seemed to discharge all

1 Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. iii. p. 202. UY al estanque
venian dos canos de agua, uno caliente y otro frio, y alii se templava la una
con la otra, para quando el Senor se queria banar 6 sus mugeres que otra
persona no osava entrar en el so pena de la vida.” — Pedro Pizarro, Descub.
y Conq., MS.

2 Stevenson, Residence in South America, vol. ii. p. 164.

3 Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. iii. p. 196. — Carta de Hern.
Pizarro, MS. The appearance of the Peruvian monarch is described in
simple but animated style by the Conqueror so often quoted, one of the
party. “Llegados al patio de la dicha casa que tenia delante della, vitno^
estar en medio de gran muchedumbre de Indios asentado aquel gran Senor
Atabalica (de quien tanta noticia, y tantas cosas nos habian dicho) con una
corona en la cabeza, y una borla que le salia della, y le cubria toda la
frente, la cual era la insiniareal, sentado en una sillecita muy baja del suelo,
como los turcos y moros acostumbran sentarse el cual esiaba con tanta
magestad y aparato cual nunca se ha visto jamas, porque estaba cercado
de mas de seiscientos Senores de su tierra.” — Relacion del Primer.
Descub., MS.

Conquest of Peru 241

expression from his features, and to discover only the apathy
so characteristic of the American races. On the present
occasion, this must have been in part, at least, assumed. For
it is impossible that the Indian prince should not have contem¬
plated with curious interest a spectacle so strange, and, in some
respects, appalling, as that of these mysterious strangers, for
which no previous description could have prepared him.

Hernando Pizarro and Soto, with two or three only of their
followers, slowly rode up in front of the Inca ; and the former,
making a respectful obeisance, but without dismounting,
informed Atahuallpa that he came as an ambassador from his
brother, the commander of the white men, to acquaint the
monarch with their arrival in his city of Caxamalca. They
were the subjects of a mighty prince across the waters, and had
come, he said, drawn thither by the report of his great victories,
to offer their services, and to impart to him the doctrines of the
true faith which they professed ; and he brought an invitation
from the general to Atahuallpa that the latter would be pleased
to visit the Spaniards in their present quarters.

To all this the Inca answered not a word ; nor did he make
even a sign of acknowledgment that he comprehended it ;
though it was translated for him by Felipillo, one of the inter¬
preters already noticed. He remained silent, with his eyes
fastened on the ground ; but one of his nobles, standing by his
side, answered, “ It is well.” 1 This was an embarrassing
situation for the Spaniards, who seemed to be as wide from
ascertaining the real disposition of the Peruvian monarch
towards themselves, as when the mountains were between them.

In a courteous and respectful manner, Hernando Pizarro
again broke silence by requesting the Inca to speak to them
himself, and to inform them what was his pleasure.2 To this
Atahuallpa condescended to reply, while a faint smile passed
over his features, — “ Tell your captain that I am keeping a
fast, which will end to-morrow morning. I will then visit him
with my chieftains. In the meantime, let him occupy the

1 “ Las cuales por el oidas, con ser su inclinacion preguntarnos y saber
de donde veniamos, y que queriamos, y ver nuestras personas y caballos,
tubo tanta serenidad en el rostro, y tanta gravedad en su persona, que no
quiso responder palabra a lo que se le decia, salvo que un Senor de aquellos
que estaban par de el respondia : bien esta.” — Relacion del Primer. Descub.,
MS.

2 “ Visto por el dicho Hernando Pizarro que el no hablaba, y que aquella
tercera persona respondia de suyo, torno le a suplicar, que el hablase por
su boca, y le respondiese lo que quisiese.” — Relacion dei Primer. Descub.,
MS.

242 Conquest of Peru

public buildings on the square, and no other, till I come, when
I will order what shall be done.1

Soto, one of the party present at this interview, as before
noticed, was the best mounted and perhaps the best rider in
Pizarro’s troop. Observing that Atahuallpa looked with some
interest on the fiery steed that stood before him, champing the
bit and pawing the ground with the natural impatience of a
war-horse, the Spaniard gave him the rein, and, striking his iron
heel into his side, dashed furiously over the plain ; then,
wheeling him round and round, displayed all the beautiful
movements of his charger, and his own excellent horsemanship.
Suddenly checking him in full career, he brought the animal
almost on his haunches, so near the person of the Inca, that
some of the foam that flecked his horse’s sides was thrown on
the royal garments. But Atahuallpa maintained the same
marble composure as before, though several of his soldiers,
whom De Soto passed in the course, were so much disconcerted
by it, that they drew back in manifest terror : an act of timidity
for which they paid dearly, if as the Spaniards assert, Atahuallpa
caused them to be put to death that same evening for betraying
such unworthy weakness to the strangers.2 3 *

Refreshments were now offered by the royal attendants to the
Spaniards, which they declined, being unwilling to dismount.
They did not refuse, however, to quaff the sparkling chicha
from golden vases of extraordinary size, presented to them by
the dark-eyed beauties of the harem.8 Taking then a respectful
leave of the Inca, the cavaliers rode back to Caxamalca, with

1 “El cual a esto volvio la cabeza a mirarle sonriendose y le dijo Decid
a ese Capitan que os embia aca ; que yo estoy en ayuno, y le acabo manana
por la manana, que en bebiendo una vez, yo ire con algunos destos princi-
pales mios a verme con el, que en tanto el se aposente en esas casas que
estan en la plaza que son comunes a todos, y que no entren en otra ninguna
hasta que Yo vaya, que Yo mandare 1c que se ha de hacer.” — Relacion
del Primer. Descub., MS., ubi supra. In this singular interview I have
followed the account of the cavalier who accompanied Hernando Pizarro,
in preference to the latter, who represents himself as talking in a lordly
key, that savours too much of the vaunt of the hidalgo.

2 Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., MS. — Relacion del Primer. Descub.,
MS. — “I algunos Indios, con miedo, se desviaron de la Carrera, por lo
qual Atabalipa los hhpo luego matar.” (Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. ii.
cap. iv. ) — Xerez states that Atahuallpa confessed this himself, in conversa¬
tion with the Spaniards, after he was taken prisoner. — Soto’s charger might
well have made the Indians start, if, as Balboa says, he took twenty leet
at a leap, and this with a knight in armour on his back ! — Hist, du Perou,
chap. xxii.

3 Relacion del Primer. Descub., MS. — Xeres. Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia,

tom. iii. p. 196.

Conquest of Peru 243

many moody speculations on what they had seen ; on the state
and opulence of the Indian monarch ; on the strength of his
military array, their excellent appointments, and the apparent
discipline in their ranks, — all arguing a much higher degree of
civilisation, and consequently of power, than anything they had
witnessed in the lower regions of the country. As they con¬
trasted ail this with their own diminutive force, too far advanced,
as they now were, for succour to reach them, they felt they had
done rashly in throwing themselves into the midst of so
formidable an empire, and were filled with gloomy forebodings
of the result.1 Their comrades in the camp soon caught the
infectious spirit of despondency, which was not lessened as
night came on, and they beheld the watch-fires of the Peruvians
lighting up the sides of the mountains, and glittering in the
darkness, “ as thick/’ says one who saw them, “as the stars of
heaven.” 2

Yet there was one bosom in that little host which was not
touched with the feeling either of fear or dejection. That was
Pizarro’s, who secretly rejoiced that he had now brought
matters to the issue for which he had so long panted. He
saw the necessity of kindling a similar feeling in his followers,
or all would be lost. Without unfolding his plans, he went
round among his men, beseeching them not to show faint
hearts at this crisis, when they stood face to face with the foe
whom they had been so long seeking. “They were to rely on
themselves, and on that Providence which had carried them
safe through so many fearful trials. It would not now desert
them ; and if numbers, however great, were on the side of
their enemy, it mattered little when the arm of heaven was
on theirs.” 8 The Spanish cavalier acted under the combined

1 “ Hecho esto y visto y atalayado la grandeza del ejercito, y las tiendas
que era bien de ver, nos bolvimos a donde el dicho capitan nos estaba
esperando, harto espantados de lo que nabiamos visto, habiendo y tomando
entre nosotros muchos acuerdos y opiniones de loque sedebia hacer, estando
todos con mucho temor por ser tan pocos, y estar tan metidos en la tierra
donde no podiamos ser socorridos.” (Relacion del Primer. Descub. , MS.)
— Pedro Pizarro is honest enough to confirm this account of the consternation
of the Spaniards. (Descub. y Conq., MS.) Fear was a strange sensation
for the Castilian cavalier. But if he did not feel some touch of it on that
occasion, he must have been akin to that doughty knight who, as Charles
V. pronounced, “ never could have snuffed a candle with his fingers.”

2 “ Hecimos la guardia en la plaza, de donde se vian los fuegos del
ejercito de los Indios, lo cual era cosa espantable, que como estaban en una
lad era la mayor parte, y tan juntos unos de otros, no parecia sino un cielo
muy estrellado.” — Relacion del Primer. Descub., MS.

3 Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. iii. p. 197. — Naharro,
Relacion Sumaria, MS.

244 Conquest of Peru

influence of chivalrous adventure and religious zeal. The
latter was the most effective in the hour of peril ; and Pizarro,
who understood well the characters he had to deal with, by
presenting the enterprise as a crusade, kindled the dying
embers of enthusiasm in the bosoms of his followers, and
restored their faltering courage.

He then summoned a council of his officers to consider the
plan of operations, or rather to propose to them the extra¬
ordinary plan on which he had himself decided. This was to
lay an ambuscade for the Inca, and take him prisoner in the
face of his whole army ! It was a project full of peril, border¬
ing, as it might well seem, on desperation. But the
circumstances of the Spaniards were desperate. Whichever
way they turned, they were menaced by the most appalling
dangers ; and better was it bravely to confront the danger,
than weakly to shrink from it, when there was no avenue for
escape.

To fly was now too late. Whither could they fly? At the
first signal of retreat, the whole army of the Inca would be
upon them. Their movements would be anticipated by a foe
far better acquainted with the intricacies of the sierra than them¬
selves ; the passes would be occupied, and they would be
hemmed in on all sides ; while the mere fact of this retrograde
movement would diminish the confidence, and with it the
effective strength of his own men, while it doubled that of his
enemy.

Yet to remain long inactive in his present position seemed
almost equally perilous. Even supposing that Atahuallpa
should entertain friendly feelings towards the Christians, they
could not confide in the continuance of such feelings.
Familiarity with the white men would soon destroy the idea
of anything supernatural, or even superior, in their natures.
He would feel contempt for their diminutive numbers. Their
horses, their arms, and showy appointments, would be an
attractive bait in the eye of the barbaric monarch, and when
conscious that he had the power to crush their possessors, he
would not be slow in finding a pretext for it. A sufficient one
had already occurred in the high-handed measures of the
Conquerors, on their march through his dominions.

But what reason had they to flatter themselves that the Inca
cherished such a disposition towards them ? Fie was a crafty
and unscrupulous prince, and, if the accounts they had
repeatedly received on their march were true, had ever
regarded the coming of the Spaniards with an evil eye. It

Conquest of Peru 245

was scarcely possible he should do otherwise. His soft
messages had only been intended to decoy them across the
mountains, where, with the aid of his warriors, he might
overpower them. They were entangled in the toils which the
cunning monarch had spread for them.

Their only remedy, then, was to turn the Inca’s arts against
himself ; to take him, if possible, in his own snare. There was
no time to be lost ; for any day might bring back the victorious
legions who had recently won his battles at the south, and
thus make the odds against the Spaniards far greater than
now.

Yet to encounter Atahuallpa in the open field would be
attended with great hazard ; and even if victorious, there would
be little probability that the person of the Inca, of so much
importance, would fall into the hands of the victors. The
invitation he had so unsuspiciously accepted, to visit them in
their quarters, afforded the best means for securing this desir¬
able prize. Nor was the enterprise so desperate, considering
the great advantages afforded by the character and weapons of
the invaders, and the unexpectedness of the assault. The
mere circumstance of acting on a concerted plan would alone
make a small number more than a match for a much larger
one. But it was not necessary to admit the whole of the
Indian force into the city before the attack ; and the person of
the Inca once secured, his followers, astounded by so strange
an event, were they few or many, would have no heart for
further resistance ; — and with the Inca once in his power,
Pizarro might dictate laws to the empire.

In this daring project of the Spanish chief, it was easy to
see that he had the brilliant exploit of Cortes in his mind,
when he carried off the Aztec monarch in his capital. But
that was not by violence, — at least not by open violence, —
and it received the sanction, compulsory though it were, of
the monarch himself. It was also true that the results in
that case did not altogether justify a repetition of the
experiment ; since the people rose in a body to sacrifice
both the prince and his kidnappers. Yet this was owing, in
part, at least, to the indiscretion of the latter. The experi¬
ment in the outset was perfectly successful ; and could
Pizarro once become master of the person of Atahuallpa, he
trusted to his own discretion for the rest. It would, at least,
extricate him from his present critical position, by placing in
his power an inestimable guarantee for his safety ; and if he
could not make his own terms with the Inca at once, the

246 Conquest of Peru

arrival of reinforcements from home would, in all probability,
soon enable him to do so.

Pizarro having concerted his plans for the following day, the
council broke up, and the chief occupied himself with pro¬
viding for the security of the camp during the night. The
approaches to the town were defended ; sentinels were posted
at different points, especially on the summit of the fortress,
where they were to observe the position of the enemy, and to
report any movement that menaced the tranquillity of the
night. After these precautions, the Spanish commander and
his followers withdrew to their appointed quarters, — but not to
sleep. At least, sleep must have come late to those who were
aware of the decisive Dlan for the morrow ; that morrow which
was to be the crisis of their fate, — to crown their ambitious
schemes with full success, or consign them to irretrievable ruin !

CHAPTER V

DESPERATE PLAN OF PIZARRO — ATAHUALLPA VISITS THE
SPANIARDS — HORRIBLE MASSACRE — THE INCA A PRISONER

— CONDUCT OF THE CONQUERORS - SPLENDID PROMISES OF

THE INCA — DEATH OF HUASCAR

1532

The clouds of the evening had passed away, and the sun rose
bright on the following morning, the most memorable epoch in
the annals of Peru. It was Saturday, the 16th of November,
1532. The loud cry of the trumpet called the Spaniards to
arms with the first streak of dawn ; and Pizarro, briefly
acquainting them with the plan of the assault, made the
necessary dispositions.

The plaza , as mentioned in the preceding chapter, was
defended on its three .sides by low ranges of buildings, consist¬
ing of spacious halls with wide doors or vomitories opening
into the square. In these halls he stationed his cavalry in two
divisions, one under his brother Hernando, the other under
De Soto. The infantry he placed in another of the buildings,
reserving twenty chosen men to act with himself as occasion
might require. Pedro de Candia, with a few soldiers and the
artillery, — comprehending under this imposing name two small
pieces of ordnance, called falconets, — he established in the
fortress. All received orders to wait at their posts till the

Conquest of Peru 247

arrival of the Inca. After his entrance into the great square,
they were still to remain under cover, withdrawn from observa¬
tion, till the signal was given by the discharge of a gun, when
they were to cry their war-cries, to rush out in a body from
their covert, and putting the Peruvians to the sword, bear off
the person of the Inca. The arrangement of the immense
halls, opening on a level with the plaza , seemed to be contrived
on purpose for a coup de theatre. Pizarro particularly incul¬
cated order and implicit obedience, that in the hurry of the
moment there should be no confusion. Everything depended
on their acting with concert, coolness, and celerity.1

The chief next saw that their arms were in good order; and
that the breastplates of their horses were garnished with bells,
to add by their noise to the consternation of the Indians.
Refreshments were also liberally provided, that the troops
should be in condition for the conflict. These arrangements
being completed, mass was performed with great solemnity by
the ecclesiastics who attended the expedition : the God of
battles was invoked to spread his shield over the soldiers who
were fighting to extend the empire of the Cross; and all
joined with enthusiasm in the chant, “ Exsurge Domine?
(“Rise, O Lord! and judge thine own cause”).2 One might
have supposed them a company of martyrs, about to lay down
their lives in defence of their faith, instead of a licentious
band of adventurers, meditating one of the most atrocious acts
of perfidy on the record of history ! Yet, whatever were the
vices of the Castilian cavalier, hypocrisy was not among the
number. He felt that he was battling for the Cross, and
under this conviction, exalted as it was at such a moment as
this into predominant impulse, he was blind to the baser
motives which mingled with the enterprise. With feelings
thus kindled to a flame of religious ardour, the soldiers of
Pizarro looked forward with renovated spirits to the coming

1 Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., MS. — Relacion del Primer. Descub.,
MS. — Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom, iii. p. 197, — Carta de
PI ern. Pizarro, MS.— Oviedo, Hist, de las Indias, MS., parte iii. lib. viii.
cap. vii.

2 “ Los eclesiasticos i religiosos se ocuparon toda aquella noche en
oracion, pidiendo a Dios el mas conveniente suceso a su sagrado servicio,
exaltacion de la fe, esalvacion de tanto numero de almas, derramando
muchas lagrimas i sangre en las disciplinas que tomaron. Francisco Pizarro
animS a ios soldados con una mui cristiana platica qne les hiso : con que, i
asegurarles los eclesiasticos de parte de Dios i de su Madre Santisima )a
vitoria, amanecieron todos mui deseosos de dar la batalla, diciendo &
voces, ‘Exsurge Domine, et judica causam tuam.’” — Naharro, Relacion
Sumaria, MS.

248 Conquest of Peru

conflict; and the chieftain saw with satisfaction, that in the
hour of trial his men would be true to their leader and them¬
selves.

It was late in the day before any movement was visible in
the Peruvian camp, where much preparation was making to
approach the Christian quarters with due state and ceremony.
A message was received from Atahuallpa, informing the
Spanish commander that he should come with his warriors
fully armed, in the same manner as the Spaniards had come
to his quarters the night preceding. This was not an agree¬
able intimation to Pizarro, though he had no reason, probably,
to expect the contrary. But to object might imply distrust,
or, perhaps, disclose, in some measure, his own designs. He
expressed his satisfaction, therefore, at the intelligence,
assuring the Inca, that, come as he would, he would be
received by him as a friend and brother.1

It was noon before the Indian procession was on its march,
when it was seen occupying the great causeway for a long
extent. In front came a large body of attendants, whose office
seemed to be to sweep away every particle of rubbish from the
road. High above the crowd appeared the Inca, borne on the
shoulders of his principal nobles, while others of the same
rank marched by the sides of his litter, displaying such a
dazzling show of ornaments on their persons, that, in the
language of one of the Conquerors, “ they blazed like the
sun.” 2 But the greater part of the Inca’s forces mustered
along the fields that lined the road, and were spread over the
broad meadows as far as the eye could reach.3

When the royal procession had arrived within half a mile of
the city, it came to a halt ; and Pizarro saw, with surprise, that
Atahuallpa was preparing to pitch his tents, as if to encamp

1 “ El Governador respondio : ! Df a tu senor, que venga en hora buena
como quisiere, que de la manera que viniere lo recebire como amigo i
hermano.’ ” — Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. iii. p. 197. — Oviedo,
Hist, de las Indias, MS., parte iii. lib. viii. cap. vii. — Carta de Hern.
Pizarro, MS.

2 “ PI era tanta la pateneria que traian d’ oro y plata, que hera cossa
estrana, lo que reluzia con el sol.” — Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., MS.

3 To the eye of the old Conqueror so often quoted, the number of Peru¬
vian warriors appeared not less than 50,000 ; “mas de cincuenta mil que
tenia de guerra. ” (Relacion del Primer. Descub., MS.) — To Pizarro’s
secretary, as they lay encamped along the hills, they seemed about 30,000.
(Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. iii. p. 196.) — However gratifying
to the imagination to repose on some precise number, it is very rare that
one can do so with safety, in estiinating the irregular and tumultuous levies
of a barbarian host.

Conquest of Peru 249

there. A messenger soon after arrived, informing the Spaniards
that the Inca would occupy his present station the ensuing
night, and enter the city on the following morning.

This intelligence greatly disturbed Pizarro, who had shared
in the general impatience of his men at the tardy movements
of the Peruvians. The troops had been under arms since
daylight, the cavalry mounted, and the infantry at their post,
waiting in silence the coming of the Inca. A profound still¬
ness reigned throughout the town, broken only at intervals by
the cry of the sentinel from the summit of the fortress, as he
proclaimed the movements of the Indian army. Nothing,
Pizarro well knew, was so trying to the soldier as prolonged
suspense, in a critical situation like the present ; and he feared
lest his ardour might evaporate, and be succeeded by that
nervous feeling natural to the bravest soul at such a crisis,
and which, if not fear, is near akin to it.1 He returned an
answer, therefore, to Atahuallpa, deprecating his change of
purpose ; and adding, that he had provided everything for
his entertainment, and expected him that night to sup with
him.2

This message turned the Inca from his purpose ; and, strik¬
ing his tents again, he resumed his march, first advising the
general that he should leave the greater part of his warriors
behind, and enter the place with only a few of them, and
without arms,3 as he preferred to pass the night at Caxamalca.
At the same time he ordered accommodations to be provided
for himself and his retinue in one of the large stone buildings,
called, from a serpent sculptured on the walls, “the House of
the Serpent.” 4 — No tidings could have been more grateful to
the Spaniards. It seemed as if the Indian monarch was eager
to rush into the snare that had been spread for him ! The

1 Pedro Pizarro says that an Indian spy reported to Atahuallpa, that the
white men were all huddled together m the great halls on the square, in
much consternation, llenos de viiedo ; which was not far from the truth,
adds the cavalier. — Descub. y Conq., MS.

2 Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., MS. — “Asentados sus toldos envio i.
decir al Gobernador que ya era tarde, que el queria dormir allf, que por
la mafiana venia. El Gobernador le envio a decir que le rogaba que viniese
luego, porque le esperaba a cenar, e que no habia de cenar hasta que
fuese.>’ — Carta de Hern. Pizarro, MS.

3 “El queria venir luego, e que venia sin armas. E luego Atabaliva se
movio para venir, e dejo all! la gente con las armas, e llevo consigo hasta
cinco 6 seis mil indios sin armas, salvo que debajo de las camisetas trafan
unas porras pequehas, 4 hondas, e bolsas con piedras.” — Carta de Hern.
Pizarro, MS.

4 Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. iii. p. 197.

K 301

250 Conquest of Peru

fanatical cavalier could not fail to discern in it the immediate
finger of Providence.

It is difficult to account for this wavering conduct of
Atahuallpa, so different from the bold and decided character
which history ascribes to him. There is no doubt that he
made his visit to the white men in perfect good faith ; though
Pizarro was probably right in conjecturing that this amiable
disposition stood on a very precarious footing. There is as
little reason to suppose that he distrusted the sincerity of the
strangers ; or he would not thus unnecessarily have proposed
to visit them unarmed. His original purpose of coming with
all his force was doubtless to display his royal state, and per¬
haps, also, to show greater respect for the Spaniards ; but
when he consented to accept their hospitality, and pass the
night in their quarters, he was willing to dispense with a great
part of his armed soldiery, and visit them in a manner that
implied entire confidence in their good faith. He was too
absolute in his own empire easily to suspect ; and he probably
could not comprehend the audacity with which a fewT men,
like those now assembled in Caxamalca, meditated an assault
on a powerful monarch in the midst of his victorious army.
He did not know the character of the Spaniard.

It was not long before sunset when the van of the royal
procession entered the gates of the city. First came some
hundreds of the menials, employed to clear the path from
every obstacle, and singing songs of triumph as they came,
“which, in our ears,” says one of the Conquerors, “sounded
like the songs of hell ! ” 1 Then followed other bodies of
different ranks, and dressed in different liveries. Some wore
a showy stuff, checkered white and red, like the squares of a
chess-board.2 Others were clad in pure white, bearing ham¬
mers or maces of silver or copper ; 3 and the guards, together
with those in immediate attendance on the prince, were dis¬
tinguished by a rich azure livery, and a profusion of gay
ornaments, while the large pendants attached to the ears
indicated the Peruvian noble.

Elevated high above his vassals came the Inca Atahuallpa,
borne on a sedan or open litter, on which was a sort of throne
made of massive gold of inestimable value.4 The palanquin

1 Relacion del Primer. Descub., MS.

2 “Blanca y colorada como las casas de un ajedrez.” — Ibid., MS.

8 “ Con martillos en las manos de cobre y plata.” — Ibid., MS.

4 “ El asiento que traia sobre las andas era un tablon de oro que pes6
un quintal de oro segun dicen los historiadores, 25,000 pesos 6 ducados.” —
Naharro, Relacion Sumaria, MS.

Conquest of Peru 251

was lined with the richly-coloured plumes of tropical birds,
and studded with shining plates of gold and silver.1 The
monarch’s attire was much richer than on the preceding even¬
ing. Round his neck was suspended a collar of emeralds, of
uncommon size and brilliancy.2 His short hair was decorated
with golden ornaments, and the imperial borla encircled his
temples. The bearing of the Inca was sedate and dignified ;
and from his lofty station he looked down on the multitudes
below with an air of composure, like one accustomed to
command.

As the leading files of the procession entered the great
square, larger, says an old chronicler, than any square in Spain,
they opened to the right and left for the royal retinue to pass.
Everything was conducted with admirable order. The monarch
was permitted to traverse the plaza in silence, and not a
Spaniard was to be seen. When some five or six thousand of
his people had entered the place, Atahuallpa halted, and,
turning round with an inquiring look, demanded, “ Where are
the strangers ? ”

At this moment Fray Vicente de Valverde, a Dominican
friar, Pizarro’s chaplain, and afterwards Bishop of Cuzco, came
forward with his breviary, or as other accounts say, a Bible,
in one hand, and a crucifix in the other, and, approaching the
Inca, told him that he came by order of his commander to
expound to him the doctrines of the true faith, for which pur¬
pose the Spaniards had come from a great distance to his
country. The friar then explained, as clearly as he could, the
mysterious doctrine of the Trinity, and, ascending high in his
account, began with the creation of man, thence passed to his
fall, to his subsequent redemption by Jesus Christ, to the
crucifixion, and the ascension, when the Saviour left the
Apostle Peter as his Vicegerent upon earth. This power had
been transmitted to the successors of the Apostle, good and
wise men, who, under the title of Popes, held authority over ail
powers and potentates on earth. One of the last of these
Popes had commissioned the Spanish emperor, the most

1 “ Luego venia mucha gente con armaduras, patenas, i coronas de oro
i plata : entre estos venia Atabaliba, en una litera, aforrada de pluma de
papagajos, de rnuchas colores, guarnecida de chapas de oro i plata.” —
Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. iii. p. 198.

2 Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., MS. — “Venia la persona de
Atabaliva, la cual traian ochenta senores en hombros, todos bestidos de
una librea azul muy rica, y el bestido su persona muy ricamente con su
corona en la cabeza, y al cuello un collar de emeraldas grandes.” —
Relacion del Primer. Descub., MS.

252 Conquest of Peru

mighty monarch in the world, to conquer and convert the
natives in this western hemisphere ; and his general, Francisco
Pizarro, had now come to execute this important mission.
The friar concluded with beseeching the Peruvian monarch to
receive him kindly ; to abjure the errors of his own faith, and
embrace that of the Christians now proffered to him, the only
one by which he could hope for salvation ; and, furthermore,
to acknowledge himself a tributary of the Emperor Charles the
Fifth, who, in that event, would aid and protect him as his
loyal vassal.1

Whether Atahuallpa possessed himself of every link in the
curious chain of argument by which the monk connected
Pizarro with St. Peter, may be doubted. It is certain, how¬
ever, that he must have had very incorrect notions of the
Trinity, if, as Garcilasso states, the interpreter Felipillo explained
it by saying, that “ the Christians believed in three Gods and
one God, and that made four.” 2 But there is no doubt he
perfectly comprehended that the drift of the discourse was to
persuade him to resign his sceptre and acknowledge the
supremacy of another.

The eyes of the Indian monarch flashed fire, and his dark
brow grew darker as he replied, “ I will be no man’s tributary !
I am greater than any prince upon earth. Your emperor may
be a great prince ; I do not doubt it, when I see that he has
sent his subjects so far across the waters ; and I am willing to
hold him as a brother. As for the Pope of whom you speak,
he must be crazy to talk of giving away countries which do not
belong to him. For my faith,” he continued, “ I will not
change it. Your own God, as you say, was put to death by
the very men whom he created. But mine,” he concluded,
pointing to his deity,— then alas ! sinking in glory behind the
mountains, — “my God still lives in the heavens, and looks
down on his children.” 3

He then demanded of Valverde by what authority he had

1 Montesinos says that Valderde read to the Inca the regular formula
used by the Spaniards in their conquests. (Annales, MS., axio 1533.)
But that address, though absura enough, did not comprehend the whole
range of theology ascribed to the chaplain on this occasion. Yet it is not
impossible. But I have followed the report of P'ray Naharro, who
collected his information from the actors in the tragedy, and whose
minuter statement is corroborated by the more general testimony of both
the Pizarros and the secretary Xerez.

2 “ Por dezir Dios trino y uno, dixo Dios tres y uno son quatro, sumando
los numeros por darse a entender.” — 'Com, Real., parte ii. lib. i. cap. xxiii.

3 See Appendix , No. 8, where the reader will find extracts in the original
from several contemporary MSS., relating to the capture of Atahuallpa.

Conquest of Peru 253

said these things. The friar pointed to the book which he
held as his authority. Atahuallpa, taking it, turned over the
pages a moment, then, as the insult he had received probably
flashed across his mind, he threw it down with vehemence, and
exclaimed, “ Tell your comrades that they shall give me an
account of their doings in my land. I will not go from here
till they have made me full satisfaction for all the wrongs they
have committed. ” 1

The friar, greatly scandalised by the indignity offered to the
sacred volume, staid only to pick it up, and, hastening to
Pizarro, informed him of what had been done, exclaiming at
the same time, “ Do you not see, that, while we stand here
wasting our breath in talking with this dog, full of pride as he
is, the fields are filling with Indians ! Set on at once ! I
absolve you.”2 Pizarro saw that the hour had come. He
waved a white scarf in the air, the appointed signal. The fatal
gun was fired from the fortress. Then springing into the
square, the Spanish captain and his followers shouted the old
war-cry of “ St. Jago and at them ! ” It was answered by the
battle-cry of every Spaniard in the city, as, rushing from the
avenues of the great halls in which they were concealed, they
poured into the plaza , horse and foot, each in his own dark
column, and threw themselves into the midst of the Indian
crowd. The latter, taken by surprise, stunned by the report

1 Some accounts describe him as taxing the Spaniards in much more
unqualified terms. (See Appemiix , No. 8.) But language is not likely to
be accurately reported in such seasons of excitement. According to some
authorities, Atahuallpa let the volume drop by accident. (Montesinos,
Annales, MS., ano 1533. — Balboa, Hist, du Perou, chap, xxii.) But the
testimony, as far as we have it, of those present, concurs in representing it
as stated in the text. And, if he spoke with the heat imputed to him, this
act would only be in keeping.

2 “ Visto esto por el frayle y lo poco que aprovechaban sus palabras, tomo
su libro, y abajo su cabeza, y fuese para donde estaba el dicho Pizarro,
casi corriendo, y dijole : * No veis lo que pasa? para que estais en comedi-
mientos y requerimientos con este pero lleno de soberbia, que vienen los
campos llenos de Indios ? Salid i el ! Que yo os absuelvo.’ ” (Relacion
del Primer. Descub., MS.) The historian should be slow in ascribing
conduct so diabolical to Father Valverde, without evidence. Two of the
Conquerors present, Pedro Pizarro and Xerez, simply state that the monk
reported to his commander the indignity offered to the sacred volume.
But Hernando Pizarro and the author of the Relacion del Primer. Descub.,
both eye-witnesses, and Naharro, Zarate, Gomara, Balboa, Herrera, the
Inca Titucussi Yupanqui, all of whom obtained their information from
persons who were eye-witnesses, state the circumstance, with little
variation, as in the text. Yet Oviedo endorses the account of Xerez,
and Garcilasso de la Vega insists on Val verde’s innocence of any attempt
to rouse the passions of his comrades.

254 Conquest of Peru

of artillery and muskets, the echoes of which reverberated like
thunder from the surrounding buildings, and blinded by the
smoke which rolled in sulphurous volumes along the square,
were seized with a panic. They knew not whither to fly for
refuge from the coming ruin. Nobles and commoners — all
were trampled down under the fierce charge of the cavalry,
who dealt their blows right and left, without sparing ; while
their swords, flashing through the thick gloom, carried dismay
into the hearts of the wretched natives, who now, for the first
time, saw the horse and his rider in all their terrors. They
made no resistance, — as, indeed, they had no weapons with
which to make it. Every avenue to escape was closed, for the
entrance to the square was choked up with the dead bodies of
men who had perished in vain efforts to fly ; and such was the
agony of the survivors under the terrible pressure of their
assailants, that a large body of Indians, by their convulsive
struggles, burst through the wall of stone and dried clay which
formed part of the boundary of the plaza I It fell, leaving an
opening of more than a hundred paces, through which multi¬
tudes now found their wray into the country, still hotly pursued
by the cavalry, who, leaping the fallen rubbish, hung on the
rear of the fugitives, striking them down in all directions.1

Meanwhile the fight, or rather massacre, continued hot
around the Inca, whose person was the great object of the
assault. His faithful nobles, rallying about him, threw them¬
selves in the way of the assailants, and strove, by tearing them
from their saddles, or, at least, by offering their own bosoms as
a mark for their vengeance, to shield their beloved master.
It is said by some authorities, that they carried weapons con¬
cealed under their clothes. If so, it availed them little, as it
is not pretended that they used them. But the most timid
animal will defend itself when at bay. That they did not so in
the present instance is proof that they had no weapons to use.2

1 Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., MS. — Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap.
Barcia, tom. iii. p. 198. — Carta de Hern. Pizarro, MS. — Oviedo, Hist,
de las Indias, MS., parte iii. lib. viii. cap. vii. — Relacion del Primer.
Descub., MS. — Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. ii. cap. v. — Instruccion del
Inga Titucussi Yupanqui, MS.

2 The author of the Relacion del Primer. Descubrimiento speaks of a
few as having bows and arrows, and of others as armed with silver and
copper mallets or maces, which may, however, have been more for
ornament than for service in fight. — Pedro Pizarro and some later writers
say that the Indians brought thongs with them to bind the captive white
men. Both Hernando Pizarro and the secretary Xerez agree that their
only arms were secreted under their clothes ; but as they do not pretend
that these were used, and as it was announced by the Inca that he came

Conquest of Peru 255

Yet they still continued to force back the cavaliers, clinging
to their horses with dying grasp, and, as one was cut down,
another taking the place of his fallen comrade with a loyalty
truly affecting.

The Indian monarch, stunned and bewildered, saw his
faithful subjects falling round him without fully comprehending
his situation. The litter on which he rode heaved to and fro,
as the mighty press swayed backwards and forwards ; and he
gazed on the overwhelming ruin, like some forlorn mariner,
who, tossed about in his bark by the furious elements, sees
the lightning’s flash and hears the thunder bursting around
him, with the consciousness that he can do nothing to avert
his fate. At length, weary with the work of destruction, the
Spaniards, as the shades of evening grew deeper, felt afraid
that the royal prize might, after all, elude them ; and some of
the cavaliers made a desperate attempt to end the affray at
once by taking Atahuallpa’s life. But Pizarro, who was
nearest his person, called out with stentorian voice, “ Let no
one, who values his life, strike at the Inca;”1 and, stretching
out his arm to shield him, received a wound on the hand from
one of his own men, — the only wound received by a Spaniard
in the action.2

The struggle now became fiercer than ever round the royal
litter. It reeled more and more, and at length several of the
nobles who supported it having been slain, it was overturned,
and the Indian prince would have come with violence to the
ground, had not his fall been broken by the efforts of Pizarro
and some other of the cavaliers, who caught him in their arms.
The imperial borlci was instantly snatched from his temples by
a soldier named Estete,3 and the unhappy monarch, strongly

without arms, the assertion may well be doubted,— or rather discredited.
All authorities, without exception, agree that no attempt was made at
resistance.

1 “ El Marquez dio bozes, diciendo, ‘Nadie hiera al Indio so pena de la
vida.’” — I'edro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., MS.

2 Whatever discrepancy exists among the Castilian accounts in other
respects, all coucur in this remarkable fact, that no Spaniard, except their
general, received a wound on that occasion. Pizarro saw in this a
satisfactory argument for regarding the Spaniards this day, as under the
especial protection of Providence. — See Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia,
tom. iii. p. 199.

3 Miguel Estete, who long retained the silken diadem as a trophy of the
exploit, according to Garcilasso de la Vega, (Com. Real., parte ii. lib. i.
cap. xxvii.,) an indifferent authority for anything in this part of his history.
This popular writer, whose wrnrk, from his superior knowledge of the
institutions of the country, has obtained greater credit, even in what relates

256 Conquest of Peru

secured, was removed to a neighbouring building, where he
was carefully guarded.

All attempt at resistance now ceased. The fate of the Inca
soon spread over town and country.

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